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NOW  READYl 

A     STORY     OF     REAL      LIFE, 
WRITTEN     BY     A      WESTERN      LADT,     AND     E  N  T  I  T  L  E  T>  : 

MRS,    BEN   DARBY; 


WEAL    AND    WOE    OF    SOCIAL    LIFE. 
One  Volume,  12mo. 

This  is  a  series  of  striking  Picture  of  American  Social  Life,,  drawn  by  an  Artist 
of  great  skill — one  who  possesses  a  knowledge  of  society,  as  it  appears  in  City  and 
Country,  Town  and  Village ;  whether  seen  amid  the  gay  throngs  of  Saratoga,  in  the 
brilliant  drawing-rooms  of  the  great  Commercial  Metropolis,  or  in  its  more  rustic 
development*  in  the  beautiful  valleys  of  the  Blue-Ridge,  or  on  the  broad  prairies  of 
the  West. 

The  Authoress  has  shown  her  ability  to  delineate  character  with  a  power  rarely 
equaled — her  pictures,  whether  of  high  life,  or  squalid  misery,  are  painted  in  colors 
that  cannot  be  mistaken,  and  their  counterparts  are  sure  to  be  located  and  recog- 
nized in  every  portion  of  the  land. 


EARLY    ENGAGEMENTS; 

BY  MART  FRAZAER. 
One  neat  Volume,  12  mo. 

The  title  indicates  the  character  of  this  volume.  The  scenes  are  Southern  and 
Western,  and  the  characteristics  of  each  are  faithfully  portrayed.  The  plot  is  well 
laid,  and  replete  with  interest.  The  object  of  the  Author  is  to  show  some  of  the 
evils  resulting  from  Early  Marriage  "  Engagements."  She  would  teach  the  lesson, 
that 

Evil  ii  wrought  by  want  of  THOOOHT, 
As  well  as  want  of  BiiRT. 


THE   LIFE    OF    BLENHERHASSET; 

Comprising  An  Authentic  Narrative  of  the  celebrated  Expedition 

of  AARON  BURR,  and-  containing  many  additional  Facts  not 

heretofore  published. 

BY   WILLIAM   H.   SAFPORD. 
One  Volume,  12  mo.  Cloth. 


EARLY 


ENGAGEMENTS 


AND 


F  L  0  R  E-N  C  E, 


(A    SEQUEL.) 


BY 

SARAH  MARSHALL  HAYDEN. 

SECOND    EDITION. 


CINCINNATI: 
MOORE,  ANDERSON,  WILSTACH   &   KEYS, 

28  WEST  FOURTH  STREET. 

1858. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1854,  by 

MOORE,  ANDERSON  AND  COMPANY, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  District  of  Ohio. 


C.   A.  MORGAN    fc    CO., 
BTEBEOTYPERS   AND  PUBLISHERS 

HAMMOND     STRUT. 


TO 

anfc 


I  SHOULD  regret  exceedingly,  my  beloved  nieces,  that  this 
volume,  which  I  affectionately  dedicate  to  you,  should  become 
the  means  of  creating  a  morbid  fondness  for  light  literature. 
Deeply  indeed,  should  I  deprecate  that  which  would  cause  you  to 
prefer  the  gilt  to  the  "  refined  gold."  But  as  our  Divine  Saviour 
deigned  to  convey  moral  truths  by  means  of  parables,  so  I 
would  seek,  by  this  simple  story,  to  impress  your  minds  with  the 
sense  of  an  evil,  whose  victims  are  "  legion." 

The  story  is  founded,  as  you  are  aware,  on  the  rash  and 
thoughtless  marriage  engagement  of  a  very  dear  friend,  which 
resulted,  as  might  naturally  be  expected,  in  an  unhappy  mar- 
riage; 

For  evil  is  wrought  by  want  of  THOUGHT, 
As  well  as  want  of  HEART.  _ 

It  is  approaching  the  sacred  matrimonial  altar  with  irreverent 
steps,  of  which  I  would  warn  you.  In  perusing  the  sacred  pages, 
you  will  find  that  Marriage  is  the  first  institution  of  the  Great 
Creator  for  the  happiness  of  our  race,  and,  that  that  object  may 
be  attained,  those  holy  vows  should  be  assumed  "soberly, 
thoughtfully  and  prayerfully."  Then,  and  then  only,  may  He 
be  expected  to  "  bless  and  hallow  "  the  union. 

Accept  this  first  unpolished  effort  of  ray  pen,  as  a  testimonial 
of  the  love  and  kind  wishes  of 

THE  AUTHOR. 


2047354 


EARLY    ENGAGEMENTS, 


CHAPTER   I. 

Give  me  the  face 

That's  warm— that  lives — that  breathes— made  radiant 
By  an  informing  spirit  from  within. 
Give  me  the  face  that  varies  with  the  thought, 
That  answers  to  the  heart,  and  seems  the  while 
With  such  a  separate  consciousness  endued 
That,  as  we  gaze,  we  can  almost  believe 
It  is  itself  a  heart,  and  of  itself 
Doth  feel  and  palpitate. 

THERE  are  those  who  say,  thou  art  not  beautiful,  Ohio  ! 
that  from  thy  source,  even  near  to  thy  confluence  with 
the  Father  of  Waters,  a  spirit  of  monotony  prevails. 
But  though  there  be  not  the  same  variation  in  thy  scenery 
as  in  that  of  the  Queen  river  of  the  North,  or  the  classic 
and  storied  Rhine,  thou  art  deemed  none  the  less  fair,  by 
those  whose  eyes  were  first  unclosed  upon  thy  beauteous 
borders ;  and  to  many  thy  unvaried  aspect,  renders  thee 
more  dear ;  for  when  years  have  flown,  and  new  homes 
along  thy  shores,  far  distant  from  the  parental  hearthstone, 
have  "  wooed  and  won"  them,  no  striking  contrasts  re- 
mind them  painfully  of  their  "  exile  from  home" — even 
though  stranger  faces  be  about  them,  thine  is  the  same 
familiar  scene  which  greeted  them  pleasantly  in  the  golden 

hours  of  youth. 

(7) 


8  EARLV   ENGAGEMENTS. 

And  who  may  say,  thou  art  not  beautiful,  when  the 
stern  soul  of  the  lled-man,  was  softened  beneath  thy 
magic  sway — thoughts  of  strife  and  bloodshed,  giving  place 
to  emotions  of  pleasure,  as  he  gazed  upon  thee,  and  pro- 
nounced thee  in  the  strong,  terse  terms  of  his  native 
tongue,  Ohio-lo-pe-chee,  or  River  of  Beauty.  La  Belle 
Riviere,  too,  burst  spontaneously  from  the  lips  of  him  of 
the  pallid  brow,  whose  eyes  first  rested  on  thee ;  and  thy 
"sons  and  daughters"  exclaim,  though  many  are  beautiful, 
"thou  excellest  them  all." 

In  the  union  of  thy  crystal  waves  with  those  of  the  great 
Father  of  Waters,  too  frequently  art  thou  a  prototype  of 
life.  For  a  time  thou  flowest  by  his  side,  struggling  to 
preserve  untarnished  thy  brightness  and  purity  ;  at  length, 
overcome  by  his  superior  might,  thou  art  swallowed  up 
forever  in  his  murky  waves :  even  thus  has  the  bright  and 
joyous  being  of  the  young  bride,  ofttimes,  been  lost  in 
the  darkness  of  the  soul  with  which  it  sought  to  mingle. 

Not  unlike  thy  beautiful  "rivals,  around  whom  cluster 
legends,  romances,  and  poems,  thick  as  spring-flowers, 
thou  also  hast  thy  stories,  and  heart  stories  too,  as  we  shall 
see. 

It  was  a  strangely  picturesque  old  house,  densely  shaded 
by  forest  trees,  with  a  repose  about  it,  deep  and  unbroken 
save  by  the  low  gurgling  tones  of  a  stream  which  swept 
through  the  lawn,  or  the  dash  of  its  waters  over  some  pro- 
jecting fragment  of  stone.  Lofty  hills  rose  suddenly  up 
from  the  shores  of  "La  Belle  Riviere,"  and  wreathed 
themselves  around  the  lovely  vale  of  its  location.  The 
emerald  lawn,  glittering  with  its  golden  dandelions,  as  the 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  9 

blue  arch  above  with  the  silvery  stars,  stretched  away  to 
the  pebbly  beach,  which  framed  in  the  sparkling  waves  — 
but  whose  freshness  and  murmurs,  springing  up  on  the 
wings  of  the  passing  breeze,  were  wafted  away  over  the 
valley.  In  the  rear  of  the  mansion,  the  lawn  extended  to 
the  base  of  the  hills,  along  which  the  turnpike  to  a 
neighboring  city  led. 

Away  up,  amid  the  loftiest  hills  of  the  range,  the  stream 
had  its  source.  As  it  ran  laughing  and  singing  adown  the 
hill  side,  its  course  was  broken  into  innumerable  little 
cascades,  until  having  neared  the  base,  it  swelled  into  one 
of  greater  magnitude  ;  and  with  a  bound  of  many  feet 
aver  a  ledge  of  rocks,  it  reached  the  level  of  the  valley. 
And  though  there  was  naught  of  the  grandeur  and  subli- 
mity of  the  great  Niagara  in  this  cascade,  there  was  all  of 
the  beauty  that  characterizes  that  world-renowned  wonder. 
Even  the  low,  unmindful  of  its  lesser  proportions,  bent 
lovingly  above  it.  Thenceforth  its  course  unimpeded, 
the  stream,  with  its  bordering  of  purple  and  gold — for  the 
sweet  scented  violet,  the  purple  iris,  and  golden  buttercup, 
grew  in  wild  luxuriance  along  its  margin — wound  gracefully 
over  the  varied  surface. 

"  What  a  lovely  spot !"  was  the  natural  exclamation  of 
Mr.  Delisle,  a  wealthy  southern  planter,  gazing  from  the 
carriage  as  it  sped  rapidly  along  the  turnpike,  "  and  very 
different  from  your  expectations,  is  it  not,  my  daughter? 
In  the  massive  proportions  of  the  building,  its  ivy-crested 
turrets,  the  wide  spreading  lawn,  and  highly  cultivated 
grounds,  it  bears  a  far  closer  resemblance  to  an  English 
country  estate,  than  a  boarding-school  for  young  ladies. 
Now  if  we  find  the  inmates,  but  more  especially  the  pre- 


10  EAKLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

siding  genius  of  this  enchanting  region,  all  that  Dr.  Carson 
represents,  you  cannot  be  otherwise  than  happy  during 
your  residence  here." 

The  large,  dark  eyes  of  the  maiden,  were  fixed  with 
earnest  attention  upon  the  scene  before  her.  , 

"  It  is  truly  an  Eden  of  loveliness,"  she  exclaimed,  with 
sudden  enthusiasm  ;  "but,"  she  added  in  saddened  tones, 
pearly  drops  gathering  fast  upon  the  silken  fringes  of  those 
beautiful  eyes,  "  its  beauty  will  be  naught  to  me,  without 
your  presence,  my  father ;"  and  throwing  her  arms  wildly 
around  him,  she  murmured,  "  how  can  I  endure  this  long 
separation.  I  who  have  scarce  ever  been  absent  from  you 
a  moment?" 

"  Do  not  weep  thus,  darling.  If  I  find  your  health  not 
improving  at  the  expiration  of  a  year,  you  shall  then  return 
home.  The  separation  will  be  most  painful.  I  have  not 
yielded  my  consent  to  it,  without  many  keen  and  bitter 
pangs ;  and  were  it  not  for  the  alarming  state  of  your 
health,  I  feel  that  it  could  not  be  borne.  I  cannot,"  said 
he,  smilingly  kissing  her  tears  away,  "  see  my  flower 
fading  for  the  want  of  congenial  skies ;  and  Dr.  Carson 
assures  me  that  three  years'  residence  in  this  healthful 
clime,  will  completely  restore  you.  This  is  the  rainbow 
of  promise,  which,  arching  over  my  darkened  skies,  has 
nerved  me  to  bear  the  separation,  and  will  cheer  me,  and 
console  me  in  my  loneliness,  during  your  absence. 

The  carriage  paused  at  the  large  gate  opening  into  the 
Seminary  domain;  the  coachman  dismounting  to  open  it. 
The  eyes  of  Mr.  Delisle  and  Florence  again  rested  on  the 
beautifully  silent  scene  ;  but  even  as  they  gaze  groups  of 
fair  and  happy  maidens  bound  forth  through  the  open  door, 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  11 

and  with  prolonged  and  merry  shouts  put  to  flight  the 
sweet  repose  of  the  grove.  Their  varied  sounds  of  laugh- 
ter and  song  were  borne  down  to  the  ears  of  our  travelers. 
The  carriage  crossed  the  light  bridge  that  spanned  the 
stream,  and  rolling  along  the  graveled  walk,  arrested  the 
attention  of  the  gay  young  sportants.  Their  games  were 
instantly  suspended,  and  numberless  faces,  beaming  with 
health  and  happiness,  were  directed  inquiringly  toward  its 
occupants. 

Florence's  father  turned  to  her  with  a  smile  the  most 
expressive  of  joy  she  ever  remembered  to  have  seen  light 
up  his  countenance,  and  said,  "  I  resign  you  cheerfully, 
my  daughter,  to  the  genial  influences  of  this  place.  On  my 
return,  a  year  hence,  I  hope  to  find  the  hue  of  health  deep- 
ening brilliantly  upon  your  cheek,  and  your  step  as  elastic 
and  vigorous  as  these  young  maidens'.  My  unbounded 
gratitude  is  due  to  Dr.  Carson  for  having  directed  me  to 
the  means  by  which  your  health  may  be  restored,  and  with 
it  hope  and  happiness  to  our  sad  and  gloomy  home." 

As  the  carriage  swept  round  the  curved  walk  to  the 
front  of  the  building,  Florence  observed  a  grave  and  dig- 
nified lady,  standing  amid  some  flower  plats,  engaged  as 
was  evident,  in  giving  directions  to  the  gardener  who,  sur- 
rounded by  the  implements  of  his  art,  stood  ready  to  do 
her  bidding. 

Upon  the  portico,  in  the  shade  of  one  of  its  massive 
columns,  there  was  a  young  girl,  scarcely  fourteen  in  ap- 
pearance, yet  had  she  passed  that  period  by  several  years, 
who  was  deeply  absorbed  in  twining  a  garland  of  flowers 
around  her  straw  hat.  A  profusion  of  soft,  brown  curls 
enveloped  her  neck  and  shoulders,  and  her  complexion 


12  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

was  of  so  lily-like  a  fairness,  one  would  scarce  suppose 
the  "  ardent  frown"  of  the  day-god  had  ever  rested  on  it, 
were  it  not  that  the  features  seemed  to  have  caught  their 
expression  from  his  rays — for  it  was  a  face  of  living  sun- 
shine. Her  large,  full  eyes  bore  the  azure  hue  of  the 
sweet  spring  sky  above  her,  and  her  plump  and  buoyant 
form,  was  enrobed  in  a  muslin  of  the  same  cerulean  tinge — 
a  color  scarcely  less  becoming  to  early  youth  than  pure 
and  snowy  white. 

A  smile  of  pleasure  instantaneously  wreathed  her  crim- 
son lips,  as  she  glanced  at  the  young  stranger  who  was 
being  lifted  from  the  carriage ;  but  it  vanished  as  her  more 
earnest  gaze  caught  the  pale,  sad  face  and  slight,  drooping 
figure  of  the  new  comer.  With  a  heart  overflowing  with 
sympathy,  scarce  a  moment  elapsed  ere  she  was  by  her 
side,  and  gently  drawing  the  young  Southern  girl's  arm 
within  hers,  she  assisted  her  to  climb  the  steps  and  led  her 
into  Mrs.  Ormond's  private  parlor.  Drawing  a  large 
cushioned  chair  to  the  open  window,  through  whose  gossa- 
mer drapery  a  breeze,  filled  with  the  perfume  of  early 
spring,  was  softly  stealing,  she  seated  her  and  removed 
from  about  her  the  cumbrous  envelopes  which  the  deli- 
cate state  of  her  health  rendered  necessary  in  traveling. 
Then  taking  an  ottoman  near  her,  had  already  engaged 
her  in  conversation  when  Mr.  Delisle  was  conducted  in  by 
Mrs.  Ormond. 

With  fond  affection  he  placed  the  hand  of  his  idolized 
daughter,  in  that  of  Mrs.  Ormond,  pleading  for  a  warm 
place  in  her  affections  for  Florence ;  and  expressing  also 
his  happiness  at  having  found  one  with  whom  he  could 
safely  intrust  the  jewel  of  his  heart. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  13 

He  spoke  of  the  blight  that  had  fallen  on  his  home ;  that 
of  the  numerous  flowers  once  blooming  beauteously  around 
his  pathway  of  life,  but  this  one  frail  bud  had  escaped  the 
"dire  frost"  of  the  destroyer.  He  told  of  the  utter  hope- 
lessness with  which  he  had  nurtured  her  through  her  feeble 
infancy  and  childhood;  and  that  Dr.  Carson,  their  family 
physician,  now  encouraged  the  hope  that  the  pure,  bracing 
breezes  of  the  north  would  strengthen  and  invigorate  her 
fragile  constitution;  and  continued  he  "the  blooming  faces 
of  your  pupils  give  me  confidence  that  our  hopes  will  be 
realized.  I  shall  return  home  with  feelings  of  a  far  differ- 
ent character  from  those  with  which  I  left.  Then,  despite 
the  kind  efforts  of  my  friends  to  cheer  me,  I  could  not 
divest  myself  of  thejnost  gloomy  and  painful  apprehen- 
sions as  to  the  result — and  now,  I  feel  a  lightness  of  heart, 
a  hopefulness  of  spirit,  unknown  for  many  years." 

While  Mr.  Delisle  was  speaking,  Carrie,  Mrs.  Ormond's 
young  sister,  nestled  closely  and  yet  more  closely  to  the 
side  of  Florence ;  and  with  one  arm  wound  lovingly  around 
her,  she  clasped  her  small,  almost  transparent  hand  warmly 
and  sympathizingly. 

Mrs.  Ormond  also  was  deeply  affected,  and  bending  over 
her  pressed  a  kiss,  expressive  of  tender  sympathy  and 
affection,  upon  the  marble  brow  of  the  young  Southerner; 
then  she  addressed  Mr.  Delisle,  saying:  "Let  me  assure 
you,  my  dear  sir,  that  no  efforts  will  be  spared  to  promote 
the  health  and  happiness,  the  moral  and  intellectual  im- 
provement of  your  daughter  while  she  remains  under  my 
charge." 

When  the  conversation  became  general,  Mr.  Delisle 
complimented  Mrs.  Ormond  on  the  exceeding  loveliness  of 


14  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

her  location,  and  spoke  of  the  decidedly  English  character 
of  the  place. 

"  It  was  once  the  home  of  an  English  family,"  said  she, 
"who  having  met  with  an  unexpected  reverse  of  fortune 
in  their  native  land,  and  being  unwilling  to  occupy  a  posi- 
tion in  society  inferior  to  their  former  lofty  station,  'gathered 
together'  the  remains  of  their  princely  fortune  and  removed 
to  this  valley,  then  almost  a  wilderness ;  for  the  neighbor- 
ing populous  city  was  in  its  infancy.  They  sought  to 
model  their  new  home  after  their  old  ancestral  halls,  but  on 
a  scale  of  far  less  magnificence;  and  it  was  the  accom- 
plished lady  of  the  mansion  who  planted  the  ivy  which 
now  covers  the  walls,  and  the  sweet-scented  violets  that 
mingle  their  perfume  with  that  of  the  native  flowers  along 
the  margin  of  the  stream  which  flows  through  the  lawn.  On. 
the  demise  of  his  parents,  the  sole  remaining  heir  wishing 
to  engage  in  business  in  the  city,  offered  it  for  sale,  and  I 
became  the  purchaser." 

Mr.  Delisle  was  charmed  with  the  graceful  dignity  of 
Mrs.  Ormond's  manner;  the  refined  and  intellectual  tone 
of  her  conversation ;  but  especially  with  that  innate  good- 
ness of  heart,  which  was  shadowed  forth  in  every  lineament 
of  her  benign  countenance,  in  every  action,  and  in  every 
word ;  and  as  their  acquaintance  matured,  he  became  more 
and  more  deeply  impressed  with  her  pre-eminent  qualifica- 
tions for  the  responsible  station  she  occupied. 

She  was  not  only  an  instructress,  but  a  kind  and  loving 
mother  to  her  pupils ;  one  to  whom  they  could  pour  forth 
their  sorrows  and  childish  grievances  with 'the  assurance  of 
receiving  the  sympathy  which  maternal  love  so  readily 
yields.  Neither  did  she  withhold  the  judicious  counsel 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  15 

which  thoughtless,  impulsive  girlhood  so  frequently  re- 
quires ;  and  it  was  given  in  that  kindly  and  deeply  impres- 
sive manner  which  caused  it  to  sink  into  the  heart,  to 
become  its  shield  in  the  moment  of  temptation.  Owing  to 
this  government  of  love,  and  the  fine  literary  advantages 
the  institution  offered,  its  celebrity  had  become  unparal- 
leled in  the  West. 

The  joyous  mirth  of  her  young  companions,  when  freed 
from  the  restraints  of  the  school-room,  proved  so  conta- 
gious, Florence  soon  joined  with  great  zest  in  all  the 
sports  in  which  they  engaged.  Their  healthful  character, 
calling  into  exercise  every  muscle  of  the  frame,  soon 
wrought  a  very  perceptible  change  in  her  system ;  the  ex- 
cessive pallor  of  her  complexion  gave  place  to  a  clearer, 
more  natural  hue;  and  the  tint  of  the  young  moss  rose 
began  to  gleam  upon  her  cheek ;  her  spirits  became  more 
buoyant  and  equal,  and  the  deadly  languor  and  enervation 
which  had  formerly  succeeded  the  slightest  exertion, 
ceased.  It  was  in  truth  the  want  of  exercise  that  induced 
the  fatigue.  Surrounded  by  servants  whose  duty  it  was  to 
anticipate  her  every  want;  and  having  no  young  compan- 
ions to  challenge  her  to  a  game  of  romps  in  the  open  air,  or 
a  brisk  ride  through  the  forest — there  was  neither  a  neces- 
sity for,  nor  an  incentive  to,  exertion.  The  only  white 
inmate  of  her  father's  house,  beside  themselves,  was  his 
ward — a  youth  some  few  years  older  than  herself;  and  he 
had  hung  tremblingly  over  her  through  her  invalid  life 
with  a  watchful  tenderness,  unequaled  even  by  that  of  her 
father;  shielding  her  from  from  every  passing  breeze, 
dreading  lest  the  fell  destroyer  lurked  within  it. 

Mr.  Delisle  lingered  long  in  the  beautiful  vale  of  S , 


16  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

tearing  himself  finally  away  from  it  with  sorrowful  reluc- 
tance ;  for  it  now  contained  the  golden  chain  which  bound 
him  to  the  earth.  He  had  the  extreme  gratification,  how- 
ever, of  witnessing  the  improved  state  of  his  beloved  daugh- 
ter's health,  before  his  departure.  Long  and  fondly  he 
clasped  her  to  his  bosom,  gazing  upon  her  with  an  expres- 
sion of  yearning  sorrow,  as  though  he  would  behold  her  no 
more  forever ;  then  resigning  her  to  Mrs.  Ormond,  he 
again  besought  her  to  guard  well  the  treasure  intrusted  to 
her  care.  And  though  the  pangs  of  separation  had  well 
nigh  broken  the  heart  of  this  devoted  father,  there  was 
balm  to  his  wounded  spirit  in  the  knowledge,  that  the  idol 
of  his  tenderness,  "  whose  life  had  been  a  scene  of  change- 
less love,"  whose  sensitive  heart  was  unscarred  by  a  dark 
frown,  or  harsh  word,  was  consigned  to  the  care  of  one  so 
kind,  so  gentle,  so  worthy  of  the  trust,  as  was  Mrs.  Or- 
mond. 

Florence  Delisle  had  just  completed  her  fifteenth  year, 

•when  placed  at  E Seminary,  and  though  but  in  her 

girlhood,  and  enfeebled  by  disease,  her  beauty  gave  pro- 
mise of  that  glorious  and  queenly  style  for  which  the 
daughters  of  her  clime  are  celebrated.  Her  eyes  were 
large,  dark,  and  lustrous,  and  their  ever-varying  shadows 
told  of  a  loving  heart,  and  a  high,  proud  spirit.  Her  brow 
was  full,  broad,  and  lofty  in  its  proportions,  bearing  the 
stamp  of  an  intellect  far  above  the  meager  portion  usually 
allotted  to  her  sex.  Around  her  classically  formed  head, 
massive  braids  of  the  gloss  and  darkness  of  the  raven's 
wing  were  wreathed  in  graceful  profusion,  and  her  counte- 
nance was  of  that  living,  breathing  character,  so  beauti- 
fully described  by  the  poet,  at  the  beginning  of  the  chapter. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  17 

It  was  in  truth  her  soul's  mirror,  upon  which  each  thought, 
as  it  sprang  into  being,  was  radiantly  reflected  ;  and  scorn- 
ing the  slightest  deception,  she  rather  exulted  in  that  fact, 
well  knowing  that  her  tell-tale  face  betrayed  naught  that 
she  would  blush  to  have  revealed.  In  a  word,  to  borrow 
an  expressive  phrase  from  that  spendthrift  of  beautiful 
figures,  Ossian — "she  was  covered  with  the  light  of  beauty, 
but  her  heart  was  the  house  of  pride  ;"  but  though  prido 
dwelt  there,  the  noblest  and  most  generous  impulses  were 
also  co-inmates.  The  whole  human  family  partook  of  the 
embraces  of  her  new  friend  Carrie's  heart ;  but  Florence's 
possessed  no  such  expansive  properties.  Some  rare  quali- 
ties of  mind  and  heart  must  exist  in  the  person  to  whom 
she  became  attached  —  she  must  entertain  a  profound 
respect  ere  she  could  esteem,  but  loving  with  a  passionate 
devotion,  the  few  whose  characters  approached  her  exalted 
standard. 

From  having  been  reared  without  young  society,  her 
thoughts,  tastes,  feelings,  and  habits,  were  those  of  a  more 
mature  age.  The  languor  of  ill  health,  early  inclining  her 
to  sedentary  habits,  books  became  her  only  sources  of 
amusement;  and  they  far  more  than  sufficed  for  the  depriv- 
ation of  others — even  physical  ills  were  forgotten  in  intense 
intellectual  enjoyment.  At  first,  they  were  resorted  to  as  a 
powerful  opiate  for  the  "  thousand  and  one"  disagreeable 
sensations,  engendered  by  a  diseased  constitution  ;  but  after 
a  time,  the  stimulus  acquired  by  such  frequent  and  heavy 
draughts  at  the  '  Pierian  fount/  like  the  indulgence  of  all 
other  stimulants,  became  a  necessity  of  her  nature.  She 
became  a  devourer  of  books,  gorging  the  mental  appetite 

2 


18  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

far  beyond  its  capacity  for  digestion,  and  receiving,  conse- 
quently, but  little  proportionate  benefit  from  the  mass  of 
knowledge  scanned  thus  rapidly.  It  was  mere  reading 
without  reflection,  which  the  great  Philosopher  of  the  Mind 
avers,  "  oppresses  and  enfeebles,  and  weakens  not  only  the 
powers  of  invention,  but  the  intellectual  powers  in  gene- 
ral." Owing  to  the  delicate  state  of  her  health,  her  edu- 
cation had  been  almost  wholly  neglected.  She  had  learned 
to  read,  by  some  means,  but  at  so  early  an  age,  that  she 
had  forgotten  when  or  how. 

Such  was  Florence  Delisle,  when,  for  the  first  time, 
removed  from  those  who  might  have  adopted  as  their  own 
the  Arabian  motto  —  "  To  hear  is  to  obey"  —  her  slightest 
expressed  wishes  being  as  a  law  to  every  member  of  her 
father's  household.  It  was  but  natural  that  her  proud  re- 
serve would  rather  provoke  enemies  than  secure  friends — 
and  such  proved  the  result.  Within  a  few  weeks  after  her 
arrival  she  selected  her  friends,  and  holding  proudly  aloof 
from  all  others,  became  exceedingly  unpopular  with  those 
whose  characters  in  nowise  assimilated  with  her  own.  She 
was  regarded  as  haughty,  overbearing,  and  unsocial,  and 
her  situation  must  have  become  extremely  unpleasant  from 
the  host  of  enemies  arrayed  against  her,  but  for  the  affec- 
tion of  Caroline  Neville.  She  had  whispered  on  their  first 
meeting,  "  we  shall  always  be  friends,"  and  severely  now 
was  that  friendship  tested  ;  for  to  the  gentle  and  amiable 
Carrie,  there  was  much  to  condemn  in  her  new  friend  ;  yet 
had  she  discovered  that  there  were  bright  gems  in  her  na- 
ture, though  now  almost  obscured  by  her  defective  educa- 
tion. She  stood  as  a  peacemaker  between  the  belligerent 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  19 

parties,  gently  soothing  and  extricating  Florence  from  all 
her  difficulties  and  troubles,  and  excusing  her  ungracious 
acts  to  her  sister  pupils,  ever  reminding  them  of  the  inju- 
dicious manner  in  which  she  had  been  reared.  She  pleaded 
forbearance  for  a  time,  assuring  them  that  by  such  a  course 
fragrant  flowers  might  be  made  to  bloom  in  a  heart  which 
was  now  a  hot-bed  of  noxious  weeds. 

"Blessed  is  the  peacemaker,"  said  He  of  holy  birth — 
ay,  thrice  blessed  are  they  who  seek  to  allay  the  fierce, 
bitter,  and  angry  passions  which  rouse  the  heart  of  man 
against  his  fellow. 

Strangely  enough  was  it  that  Florence  and  Carrie,  who 
were  in  every  respect  the  antipodes  of  each  other,  should 
become  such  warm  and  intimate  friends.  Though  possessed 
of  a  high  order  of  talent,  Carrie's  mind  was  far  more  femi- 
nine in  its  attributes  than  her  friend's.  It  had  not  the 
depth,  and  strength,  and  vigor,  which  characterized  Flor- 
ence's ;  but  from  its  earliest  unfolding  had  received  the 
most  careful  and  elaborate  culture.  Of  a  refined  and  sen- 
sitive, a  gentle  and  loving  nature,  none  could  be  in  Carrie's 
presence  without  experiencing  its  softening  influence  ;  or 
know  her,  witout  a  feeling  of  amazement  that  so  little  of 
earthly  taint  rested  on  one  who  had  advanced  thus  far  in 
the  pilgrimage  of  life. 

Florence  became  deeply  attached  to  her.  Gratitude  for 
her  numerous  acts  of  kindness  to  one  whom  she  felt  had  no 
claims  upon  her  regard,  together  with  the  high  veneration 
in  which  she  held  her  character,  soon  produced  the  strong 
and  ardent  attachment  of  which  natures  only  such  as  hers 
are  susceptible,  and  they  became  as  sisters  to  each  other, 


20  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

and  singularly  beautiful  was  it  to  behold  the  proud  and 
haughty  maiden  leaning  so  trustingly  on  the  milder  and 
gentler,  listening  with  a  subdued  spirit  to  the  words  of 
wisdom,  and  golden  counsel  that  fell  from  her  pure  lips — 
harshly  though  would  they  have  grated  upon  the  proud  and 
sensitive  nature  of  the  young  southern  girl,  had  others  of 
her  companions  daied  to  utter  them. 


EAKLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  21 


CHAPTER  II. 

"The  village  preacher's  modest  mansion  rose, 
A  man  was  he  to  all  the  country  dear." 

"  Thus  to  relieve  the  wretched,  was  his  pride, 
And  e'en  his  failings,  lean'd  to  virtue's  side 
But  in  his  duty,  prompt  at  every  call, 
He  watch'd  and  wept,  he  pray'd  and  felt  for  all ; 
And  as  a  bird  each  fond  endearment  tries, 
To  tempt  its  new-fledged  offspring  to  the  skies, 
He  tried  each  art,  reprov'd  each  dull  delay, 
Allured  to  brighter  worlds,  and  led  the  way."    GOLDSMITH. 

"On  his  noble  brow 
Beauty  with  magnanimity  sat  enthroned."          SIGOUBNEY. 

FAB  away  down  the  valley,  at  its  lowermost  extremity,  a 
village  nestled  in  close  security  under  the  shadow  of  the 
high  hills.  They  were  nature's  breastworks,  screening 
it  measurably  from  the  keen,  rigid  blasts  of  winter,  and 
during  the  summer,  casting  a  grateful  shade  over  it,  part 
of  the  day. 

The  architectural  simplicity  of  the  buildings — the  exqui- 
site little  garden  plats  which  encircled  them,  indicated  that 
they  were  the  homes  of  a  people  of  simple,  yet,  refined 
and  elevated  tastes. 

Around  the  brow  of  the  hills  adjacent,  the  forest  trees 
still  grew  in  their  native  majesty  ;  but  they  had  been  hewn 
from  the  sides,  and  smiling  vineyards,  in  all  the  luxuriance 
and  perfection  of  those  of  southern  Europe,  usurped  their 
soil. 

The  village  of  S possessed  but  a  single  public 


22  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

building,  and  this  was  dedicated  to  the  service  of  the  Most 
High.  A  part  of  its  basement,  however,  was  used  for  a 
public  library,  which  numbered  some  several  hundred  well 
selected  volumes.  The  inhabitants  were  generally  an  agri- 
cultural people  ;  spending  the  day  in  toiling,  as  by  divine 
command,  for  food  and  raiment  for  the  body  ;  but  when 
the  evening  shades  stole  over  the  hills  and  vale,  and  re- 
leased the  toil-worn  laborer,  then,  beneath  the  vine-covered 
portico,  or  around  the  genial  fireside,  the  mind  sought  its 
food  ;  and  the  library,  scant  though  it  was,  was  to  them  "a 
pearl  above  all  price." 

The  spire  of  the  village  church  towered  loftily  heaven- 
ward ;  directing  with  solemn  emphasis,  the  thoughts  of 
such  as  extract  good  from  material  objects  as  well  as  from 
those  of  heavenly  origin,  "  above  this  globe  of  dust,  above 
the  passing  day,"  to  the  bright  world  beyond. 

A  writer  has  observed  "  that  our  thoughts,  like  the  waters 
of  the  sea  when  exhaled  toward  heaven,  lose  all  their  bit- 
terness and  saltness,  and  sweeten  into  an  amiable  humanity, 
until  they  descend  in  gentle  showers  of  kindness  upon  our 
fellow  men."  None  may  gainsay  this  beautifully  expressed 
truth.  In  the  contemplation  of  that  blissful  region,  the 
abode  of  the  "redeemed  made  perfect;"  of  that  God  of 
purity,  in  whom  "  there  is  no  sin  nor  the  likeness  of  evil ;" 
and  of  that  "beloved  Son"  who  during  his  sorrowing  so- 
journ on  earth,  went  about  doing  good  to  his  fellow  men  ; 
all  the  vile  and  sinful  passions  engendered  by  communion 
with  the  world  must  vanish,  and  in  their  stead,  an  "amiable 
humanity"  take  possession  of  the  soul. 

The  appearance  of  the  village  was  attractive  in  the  high- 
est degree,  with  its  surrounding  fields  of  waving  grain,  and 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  23 

its  background  of  vines  ;  nor  could  the  eye  rest  on  a  more 
beautiful  sight  than  extensive  fields  of  the  vine,  -when  their 
graceful  foliage  and  tendrils  have  covered  with  a  mantle  of 
beauty  the  rude  stiff  stake  that  upholds  them  ;  but  more 
especially  when  the  autumnal  suns  have  deepened  the  pur-  * 
pie  of  the  luscious  clusters,  and  the  delicious,  exhilarating 
juice  seems  ready  to  burst  from  its  velvet  sheath. 

But  there  is  a  mournfulness  comes  over  the  soul  in  the 
contemplation  of  its  beauty;  for  though  the  juice  of  the 
grape  was  hallowed  by  divine  blessing,  and  accepted  by  the 
Holy  Sufferer  as  the  emblem  of  "  his  blood  shed  for  many;" 
the  trail  of  the  serpent  has  passed  over  it,  and  even  amid 
its  sparkling  wavelets  lurks  the  poison  which  debases  the 
image  of  himself,  which  he  placed  on  the  earth. 

Very  near  to  the  church  there  arose  a  cottage,  white  as 
the  new  fallen  snowflake,  and  whose  surrounding  garden 
exhibited  a  most  elaborate  culture,  and  unrivaled  beauty 
of  design.  Rare  and  choice  flowers  of  every  hue,  were 
growing  in  rich  luxuriance,  and  the  atmosphere  was  odor- 
ous with  their  delicious  fragrance.  Around  the  columns 
which  supported  the  portico,  flowering  vines  were  wreathed 
in  graceful  profusion;  the  delicate  leaves  of  the  cypress 
and  jessamine,  their  starry  blossoms  of  crimson,  and  white 
and  purple,  entwined  them  in  one  long,  loving  and  gentle 
embrace. 

This  was  the  home  of  the  pastor  of  the  village  church ; 
and  he  was  the  only  brother  of  Mrs.  Ormond  and  Carrie. 

Rarely  if  ever  could  so  humble  and  unpretending  a 
church  boast  a  pastor  so  gifted  both  in  the  "  inner  and 
outer  man."  His  form  was  the  perfection  of  manly  beauty, 
strength,  and  vigor,  combined  with  grace  and  dignity. 


24  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

His  high,  pale  forehead  was  shaded  by  locks  of  a  darker, 
richer  hue,  than  those  of  his  young  sister,  to  whom  he 
bore  a  striking  resemblance.  A  smile  of  sweetness  and 
gentleness  played  over  his  fine  features,  and  from  every 
lineament  "  peace  and  good-will"  toward  all  beamed  forth. 
It  was  the  outAvard  semblance  of  a  soul  that  fed  on  heav- 
enly food! 

His  manners  were  pleasing  and  polished ;  his  language 
chaste,  pure,  and  beautiful ;  and  had  ambition  found  a  rest- 
ing-place within  his  breast,  his  were  talents  to  command 
the  admiration — nay,  adoration  of  a  world,  and  to  have 
given  him  a  lofty  standing  among  the  master-spirits  of  the 
age.  But  "God  gave,"  and  to  his  glorious  cause  he  dedi- 
cated those  brilliant  gifts. 

Far  removed  from  the  bustle  and  tumults,  the  vice  and 
wretchedness  of  the  city,  within  the  limits  of  this  secluded 
vale  he  broke  the  "  bread  of  life"  to  its  humble  inhabi- 
tants. Amid  the  tranquil  scenes  of  rural  life,  where  hap- 
piness, comfort,  and  morality  prevailed;  "where  every 
breeze  breathed  health,  and  every  sound  was  but  the  echo 
of  tranquillity,"  his  soul  expanded  ever  with  emotions  holy 
and  profound ;  and  praise  and  gratitude,  like  sweet  incense, 
arose  from  out  its  depths  to  the  Source  from  whence  those 
blessings  flowed. 

There  was  not  a  spot  his  eye  rested  on  that  bore  not  the 
impress  of  a  God  of  beauty  as  well  as  love.  The  lofty 
range  of  hills  towering  up  to  the  blue  sky,  upon  whose 
summits  the  majestic  forest  trees  lifted  their  heads  in  all 
the  pride  of  ancient  birth ;  the  undulating  surface  of  the 
valley,  with  its  soft,  rich  covering  of  green,  its  luxuriant 
vegetation ;  the  sparkling  stream,  with  its  flowery  borders, 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  25 

and  the  broader  and  brighter  waters  of  the  placid  La  belle 
Riviere — these,  to  the  lover  of  nature  and  of  nature's  God, 
were  charms  of  far  more  inestimable  value  than  the  fame 
and  the  applause  with  which  the  world  greets  the  tran- 
scendently  gifted  of  mind. 

There  were  few  among  his  parishioners  who  might 
be  termed  learned:  yet  the  beauties  of  his  eloquence, 
and  the  strength  of  his  wisdom  were  duly  appreciated, 
though  they  might  not  know  to  what  power  to  ascribe 
their  magic  influence.  With  honest  sincerity  they  felt 
there  was  not  another  on  the  globe's  surface  who 
could  so  clearly,  so  luminously,  so  beautifully  explain  to 
them  the  divine  precepts  of  that  Master  whom  they  and  he 
served. 

Beside  the  desirableness  of  the  locality  to  one  whose 
heart  was  attuned  to  the  sweet  concords  of  rural  life,  it  was 
rendered  still  more  agreeable  to  him  by  his  sister,  Mrs. 
Ormond,  residing  within  the  field  of  his  labors.  Carrie, 
the  pure,  the  beautiful,  the  innocent,  guileless  Carrie  of  our 
story,  was  his  youthful  housekeeper,  and  presided  over  the 
parsonage  with  a  dignity  and  grace  becoming  one  who  had 
numbered  a  score  more  of  years. 

During  the  day,  while  she  was  in  attendance  of  the  valu- 
able instructions  of  Mrs.  Ormond  and  her  assistants,  he 
visited  his  parishioners ;  soothing  their  sorrows,  breathing 
hope  and  consolation  to  the  heart  oppressed  with  grief,  and 
holding  the  balm-cup  to  the  soul  "  parched  beneath  the 
burning  ray"  of  sin.  In  their  happiness  equally  with  their 
sorrows,  was  he  a  participator ;  and  the  light  of  his  smile, 
and  his  pleasant  and  kindly  words,  added  to  the  happiness 
of  many  a  hearthstone. 


26  EAKLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

After  the  duties  of  the  day  were  over,  he  repaired  to  the 
seminary,  and  having  taken  tea  with  Mrs.  Ormond  in  her 
room,  he  pronounced  the  evening  benediction  in  the  pre- 
sence of  her  household ;  then  accompanied  Carrie  home. 

He  was  absent  at  the  time  our  story  opens,  but  had  been 
apprised  of  the  young  Southerner's  arrival  through  Carrie's 
letters.  Carrie,  like  the  bee  which  extracteth  honey  from 
the  bloom  of  the  rue  and  wormwood,  leaving  their  bitter- 
ness untouched,  closed  her  eyes  to  the  failings  of  humanity, 
seeking  out  the  good,  the  beautiful,  the  lovable  traits  upon 
which  to  fasten  her  gaze.  She  did  not  mention  the  imper- 
fections of  her  new  friend,  but  dwelt  in  enthusiastic  terms 
upon  her  beauty  and  grace ;  the  devotion  of  her  father ;  the 
tenderness  of  her  nurturing;  her  orphaned  state,  being 
deprived  of  all  natural  friends  save  a  father — until  the 
young  pastor,  whose  heart  was  ever  open  to  all  generous 
sympathies,  felt  a  warm  interest  springing  up  in  his  breast 
for  the  fair  unknown  who  had  entwined  herself  so  closely 
around  the  affections  of  his  sister. 

Would  that  our  earth  were  more  frequently  brightened 
and  purified  by  spirits  such  as  thine,  sweet  Carrie  Neville  ! 
"  To  the  pure  all  things  are  pure."  We  may  not  perceive 
that  there  are  spots  unillumed  upon  the  disc  of  the  glorious 
orb  of  light  and  life,  until  somewhat  of  the  unrivaled  splen- 
dor of  his  beams  is  shut  out  from  our  gaze  by  a  darkened 
medium ;  and  it  is  through  the  dark  medium  of  our  own 
nnregenerate  hearts  alone  that  we  discover  the  failings  of 
our  fellow-men — not,  alas !  to  sigh  over  them  in  silence,  but 
to  gloat  over  them,  as  a  miser  over  his  base  coins,  and  to 
hold  them  up  to  the  world's  vision. 

Mrs.  Ormond,  though  careful  not  to  overtax  Florence 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  27 

with  mental  labor  during  her  physical  prostration,  deemed 
it  best  for  her  to  begin  a  regular  course  of  study  at  once ; 
but,  notwithstanding  Florence's  deep  and  abiding  love  for 
books  and  the  profound  reverence  and  respect  which  she 
entertained  for  persons  of  high  intellectual  acquirements, 
she  found  the  slow  and  patient  toil,  which  a  thorough  inves- 
tigation of  the  different  sciences  requires,  to  be  irksome  in 
the  extreme.  Equally  as  unaccustomed  to  mental  as  to 
physical  exertion,  the  hill  of  knowledge  proved  to  her,  as 
to  a  host  of  others,  steep  and  rugged  despite  the  efforts  of 
those  who  have  gone  up  before  to  smooth  its  paths ;  and  it 
was  long  ere  she  seemed  disposed  to  begin  its  arduous 
ascent  energetically. 

Carrie,  her  devoted  friend,  assisted  her  in  her  lessons  as 
far  as  she  was  able ;  explaining  and  re-explaining  all  that 
her  teachers  failed  to  make  comprehensible;  but  with  a 
mind  only  partially  fixed  upon  her  studies,  she  would  grow 
impatient  and  restive,  frequently  dashing  her  books  down 
violently,  and  with  a  look  of  weariness  and  disgust  exclaim- 
ing in  strong,  decisive  terms,  "  I  can  never  master  them — 
the  attempt  is  useless." 

It  was  after  a  scene  of  this  kind  that  Carrie  having 
exhausted  her  explanatory  powers,  with  even  less  success 
than  usual,  endeavored  to  cheer  her  by  saying,  "  Do  not 
be  so  discouraged,  dear  Florence,  when  Theo  returns"  (it 
was  by  this  euphonious  abbreviation  she  loved  to  call  her 
brother,  though  the  full  name,  Theodore,  was  most  dear  to 
her,  reminding  her  by  its  Greek  signification  that  he  was 
"  God's  gift"  to  her,  and  in  removing  her  earthly  parents, 
most  truly  had  be  proved  "  the  best  gift  of  his  Provi- 
dence"), "  when  Theo  returns  he  will  present  so  clearly  to 


28  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

you  all  that  now  seems  incomprehensible,  that  a  mind  the 
most  dull  and  sluggish  could  understand.  I  have  found 
his  explanations  and  commentaries  so  interesting  that 
insead  of  my  studies  being  dry  and  irksome,  they  have 
proved  '  fascinating  as  a  fairy  tale.'  Come,  cheer  up,  dear 
Florence,  he  will  soon  return." 

Still  laboring  under  the  influence  of  the  unpleasant  feel- 
ings a  disagreeable  task  is  apt  to  produce,  she  replied 
quickly:  "No  explanations,  however  clear  or  interesting, 
could  invest  these  hateful  lessons  with  a  charm  to  me. 
Beside,  what  right  have  I  to  suppose  he  will  feel  interested 
in  my  improvement  ?  You  are  his  sister,  and  it  is  natural 
he  should  seek  to  enlighten  you  upon  all  necessary  sub- 
jects ;  but  I  have  no  claims  upon  his  services,  and  if  I  had, 
I  would  very  willingly  dispense  with  them,  for  I  detest 
preachers — yes,  I  would  rather  be  the  veriest  ignoramus  in 
creation  than  to  be  taught  by  one." 

This  hasty  and  uncourteous  reply  fell  upon  the  gentle 
heart  of  Carrie  as  the  blighting  avalanche  upon  the  ver- 
dant vale.  It  was  not  alone  the  rude  rejection  of  her  efforts 
to  encourage  Florence,  nor  of  her  brother's  kindness  which 
she  had  proffered,  that  wounded  her  so  deeply ;  but  also 
Florence's  disrespect  for  that  class  of  men  who,  as  the  vice- 
gerents of  God  upon  earth,  she  felt  were  entitled  to  the 
highest  honor  and  respect.  She  was  grieved  too,  that  the 
profession  her  brother  had  chosen  and  so  nobly  adorned, 
should  have  prejudiced  Florence  against  him  ere  yet  they 
had  met. 

Neither  "the  soft  word  that  turneth  away  anger,  nor  the 
grievous  words  that  stirreth  up  strife,"  arose  to  the  quiver- 
ing lips  of  Carrie,  but,  fixing  her  eyes,  whose  azure  discs 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  29 

were  fast  becoming  suffused  with  pearly  drops,  for  a 
moment  upon  her  friend,  she  turned  in  silence  away. 

That  soft,  reproachful  glance  quivered  like  an  arrow  in 
the  bosom  of  the  impetuous  girl,  and  was  far  more  potent 
in  its  effect  than  any  other  species  of  rebuke. 

She  bounded  to  her  side,  and  folding  her  closely  to  her 
breast,  said,  "  Pardon  me,  dearest  Carrie,  pardon  me  once 
more.  How  I  loathe  myself  for  having  caused  these  tears 
to  flow,  and  wounded  the  heart  whose  overflowing  affection 
has  caused  me  to  forget  that  'I  am  a  stranger  in  a  strange 
land.'  Forgive  me,  and  I  will  even  promise  to  lave  your 
brother  for  your  sweet  sake,"  she  laughingly  exclaimed, 
"  and  listen  to  his  explanations  and  commentaries,  as  you 
are  pleased  to  term  them,  with  all  becoming  attention,  even 
though  they  be  as  long  and  as  dry  as  the  moral  law.  Se- 
riously, I  meant  not  exactly  what  I  uttered.  But  the  de- 
portment of  preachers  is  so  solemn  and  grave,  I  never  feel 
at  ease  in  their  presence." 

A  kiss  sealed  the  forgiveness  of  the  offense,  and  the 
smile  that  lit  up  the  face  of  the  young  Carrie,  was  beautiful 
as  that  of  Nature's  after  an  April  shower. 

But  not  thus  evanescent  was  the  sorrow  of  Florence. 
Her  impulsiveness  was  thus  ever  leading  her  to  titter 
things,  which,  in  her  cooler  moments,  clothed  her  spirit  in 
"  sackcloth  and  ashes."  Her  rudeness  and  harshness 
upon  the  present  occasion  seemed  unjustifiable  in  her  own 
eyes,  and  though  it  was  the  hour  of  recreation,  and  the 
grove  resounded  with  the  merry  shouts  of  her  young  com- 
panions, she  felt  no  inclination  to  join  their  happy  sports, 
but  wandered  alone  and  unhappy  down  toward  the  stream 
which,  like  a  silvery  belt,  girdled  the  lawn.  She  paused 


30  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

upon  the  light,  graceful  bridge  that  spanned  it,  and  leaning 
over  the  railing,  gazed  upon  its  shining  waters.  Bitter 
drops  forced  themselves  from  her  eyes,  and  falling  upon  it 
broke  the  polished  surface  into  innumerable  little  circlets. 
For  the  first  time  since  her  arrival,  she  felt  the  pangs  of 
"home  sickness" — a  disease  as  baneful  in  its  effects,  though 
jeeringly  spoken  of,  as  those  that  yield  their  power  to  the 
force  of  mineral  and  vegetable  remedies.  The  thought  of 
home  overpowered  her.  "  Oh  !  why,  my  father,"  she  ex- 
claimed, "did  you  remove  me  from  the  friends  whose  affec- 
tion could  survive  every  test  ?  Alas  !  I  see  my  wayward- 
ness and  impetuosity  must  turn  from  me  the  hearts  here 
disposed  to  regard  me  with  tenderness. 

Deeply  absorbed  in  gloomy  reflections,  she  remained  in 
this  attitude  of  dejection  until  the  sound  of  a  footstep 
aroused  her  attention,  and  forgetful  for  the  moment  that  she 
occupied  a  place  liable  to  intrusion,  she  drew  her  form 
proudly  up,  and  turned  her  large,  dark  eyes,  glistening  with 
the  dews  of  her  sorrow,  upon  the  intruder.  But  the  haughty 
glance  vanished  like  the  mist  before  the  morning's 
beams,  as  she  encountered  the  mild,  yet  searching  glance 
fixed  upon  her. 

The  countenance  that  met  her  view  was  one  resplendent 
with  intellect  and  benevolence,  and  in  the  depths  of  those 
mild  blue  eyes,  she  read  sympathy,  interest,  and  admiration 
for  herself.  With  a  low  bow,  and  it  seemed  an  almost  invo- 
luntary pronunciation  of  her  name,  he  passed  on. 

The  low,  deep  tones  of  his  voice  vibrated  upon  her 
wounded  spirit  as  a  chord  of  rich  music,  and  her  recent 
dejection  was  swallowed  up  in  intense  curiosity  (a  constitu- 
tional defect,  it  is  said,  in  women,)  about  the  stranger. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  31 

Her  eyes  followed  the  receding  figure.  "Who  can  it 
be  ?"  thought  she  ;  "  the  countenance  is  familiar  and  he 
seemed  to  recognize  me  instantly  ;  but  I  cannot  have  met 
him  before  ?  Pshaw !  what  an  absurdity !"  and  she 
laughed  derisively  at  the  thought;  "there  is  a  resemblance 
to  Carrie,  but  it  is  an  impossibility  that  he  should  be  the 
parson."  Again  she  laughed  in  scorn  as  she  said,  "  That 
elegant  form,  whose  graceful,  dignified  carriage,  and  whole 
exterior  appearance  would  charm  even  the  fastidious  Ches- 
terfield— a  country  parson?  Ay,  if  our  pastor  should  deign 
to  bestow  even  an  occasional  smile  upon  us,  such  as  that 
which  seems  habitual  to  the  stranger,  I  might  learn  to  like 
even  so  rigid,  and  stern,  and  gloomy  a  being,  as  I  can  well 
imagine  him  to  be.  But  doubtless  his  face  is  as  destitute 
of  a  smile,  as  the  bodies  that  revolve  around  the  sun,  are 
naturally  devoid  of  light,  and  should  an  occasional  one  flit 
over  it,  it  must  be  from  the  same  cause  by  which  they  are 
illuminated  —  mere  reflection.  They  tell  me  he  is  unmar- 
ried ;  I  surmise  he  is  some  stiff,  self-righteous  old  Pharisee, 
who,  devoutly  thankful  for  being  more  holy  than  the  rest 
of  creation,  and  despairing  of  finding  perfection  in  woman- 
kind, or  of  being  able  to  entice  an  angel  into  these  sinful 
realms,  has  resolved  to  live  a  life  of  single  blessedness.  A 
sage  conclusion,  truly  !  but  not  likely  to  redound  to  the 
comfort  and  happiness  of  his  parishioners  ;  for  without 
the  influence  of  domestic  love,  he  is  doubtless  more  stern 
and  gloomy,  and  disagreeable,  than  others  of  the  profes- 
sion." 

Again  her  thoughts  reverted  to  the  stranger  —  "  "Who 
can  it  be,  or  where  has  he  met  me  before  ?" 


32  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

Florence  had  read  of  the  infatuated  victim  who  thrusts 
his  body  beneath  the  crushing-  wheels  of  the  car  of  Jug- 
gernaut—  of  the  mother,  who,  stifling  every  tender  emo- 
tion, casts  forth  her  darling  into  the  devouring  waves  of 
the  Ganges  —  of  the  widow,  consumed  upon  the  funeral 
pyre  of  her  husband — of  the  sacrifice  of  human  life  to  the 
gods  of  more  enlightened  nations — of  the  persecution  and 
agonizing  death  of  the  Founder  of  the  Christian  Religion — 
of  the  horrible  tortures  of  the  Inquisition — of  the  burning 
fagot,  the  taunt,  the  gibe,  the  sneer,  leveled  at  the  mem- 
bers of  every  sect,  until  religion  (unrelieved  by  practical 
observation  and  experience),  of  every  clime  and  creed, 
had  become  linked  with  associations  of  a  dark  and  repul- 
sive character. 

A  mother,  is  usually  the  earliest  religious  instructor  — 
but  Florence's  infant  form  had  never  bowed  beside  a 
mother's  knee,  nor  had  her  childish  tones  been  moulded 
into  words  of  prayer — her  mother  having  died  in  giving 
her  birth.  Unfortunately,  the  pastor  of  the  church  nearest 
her  father's  plantation,  which  in  her  occasional  intervals  of 
health,  she  attended,  was  stern,  rigid  and  morose  as  the 
Covenanters,  or  early-Puritans. 

The  dark  shadows  of  the  hills,  lay  heavily  over  the 
valley,  and  the  soft,  mild  radiance  of  the  evening  star,  lit 
up  the  western  sky,  as  a  smile  of  Heaven. 

And  hark!  the  Tesper  call  for  prayer, 

As  slow  the  orb  of  daylight  sets, 
Is  rising  sweetly  on  the  air. 

Florence  turned  with  an  unusually  thoughtful  pace  to- 
ward the  seminary.  As  she  passed  to  her  accustomed  seat 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  33 

in  the  room  appropriated  for  devotions,  the  tones  of  a 
voice — deep,  rich,  and  full  as  the  diapason  of  an  organ, 
fell  upon  her  ear — and  looking  up,  she  beheld  the  stranger 
of  the  bridge,  engaged  in  prayer — his  countenance  wrapt, 
and  holy  in  its  expression,  and  words  of  burning  eloquence 
bursting  forth  from  his  lips.  His  voice  thrilled  with  yet  a 
richer  melody,  as  he  breathed  forth  his  thanks  for  his  re- 
storation to  his  beloved  charge,  and  the  conviction  forced 
itself  upon  Florence,  that  this  was  the  pastor — Carrie's 
brother,  of  whom  she  had  so  often  spoken. 

As  she  listened  to  the  impassioned  eloquence  of  that 
prayer,  her  surprise  continued  to  deepen.  "What  could 
induce  one  so  gifted  to  immure  himself  within  the  circum- 
scribed limits  of  this  valley,  instead  of  seeking  the  exten- 
sive field,  such  talents  should  command  ?  Talents  without 
ambition  are  valueless,  and  it  is  evident  he  is  unworthy 
their  possession  ;  he  knows  not  how  to  appreciate  them." 

The  service  was  over,  and  a  genial,  heartfelt  smile, 
illumed  the  features  of  the  pastor,  as  he  warmly  pressed 
the  hands  of  those  who  flocked  around  him,  to  express 
their  joy  at  his  return.  His  eyes  sought  out  the  young 
stranger,  and  encountered  the  flashing  brilliancy  of  her 
glance.  A  moment  hence,  and  she  had  passed  through  a 
side  door  to  avoid  the  introduction  she  saw  awaited  her. 
Although  he  had  stood  before  her,  shorn  of  all  the  disagree- 
able and  repulsive  features,  with  which  her  imagination 
had  invested  him,  her  prejudice  against  the  profession  was 
so  violent,  that  her  dislike  for  him  had  not  abated,  but  with 
it  there  now  mingled  the  most  supreme  contempt — for 
what  she  deemed  in  him,  a  want  of  self-appreciation. 


34  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

"  The  eloquence  of  a  Cicero,  enshrined  in  a  country 
pulpit  !"  and  her  proud  lip  curled  in  scorn  ;  "  and  I  see 
too,  unless  I  regard  this  preacher,  as  'the  most  faultless 
monster  the  world  e'er  saw,'  Carrie's  affection  cannot  sur- 
vive the  test ;  but  I  cannot  respect  one  so  devoid  of  all 
honorable  ambition." 

To  her,  as  to  the  world  in  general,  talent  seemed  the 
exclusive  possession  of  the  forum. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  35 


CHAPTER    III. 

Upon  whose  lips  the  mystic  bee  hath  dropped  the  honey  of  persuasion. 

Is  then  that  noble  end  to  feed  this  mind  with  knowledge, 

To  mix  for  mine  own  thirst  the  sparkling  wine  of  wisdom?    TUPIEB. 

Friendship,  mysterious  cement  of  the  soul! 
Sweet'ner  of  life — 

And  yet  a  fault  we  often  find 
Mixed  in  a  nobly  generous  mind. 

Yet,  when  I  find  your  passion  rise, 

And  anger  sparkling  in  your  eyes, 

I  grieve  tho-e  spirits  should  be  spent, 

For  nobler  ends  by  nature  meaut.  SWIFT. 

IT  was  the  sweet  spring-time,  with  its  fragrant  breath 
and  wealth  of  floAvers  and  melodies,  when  we  parted  with 
our  heroine ;  but  the  full  meridian  splendor  of  the  year  has 
passed  away,  and  the  gorgeous  tints  of  autumn  glow  upon 
the  leaves  of  the  forest  trees,  that  crown  the  summits  of 
the  hills,  and  embower  the  seminary.  Golden,  orange, 
crimson,  deep  purplish-red — Dame  Nature,  like  Egypt's 
fair,  but  frail,  perfidious  Queen,  had  robed  herself  in 
richest  attire,  to  await  the  coming  of  the  King  of  Terrors. 

Beneath  a  wide-spreading  chestnut,  whose  dense  foliage 
was  as  yet  unharmed  by  the  autumnal  blasts,  there  were 
three  youthful  figures.  A  hedge  of  the  ever-verdant 
laurel,  and  other  shrubs,  encircled  it  on  all  sides  but  one ; 
and  through  this,  the  glittering  surface  of  the  river,  and 
the  lofty  hills  that  closed  down  to  its  brim  on  the  opposite 
shore,  were  discernible. 

The  voice  that  issues  from  the  inclosure,  is  that  which 


36  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

was  lifted  up  in  earnest  prayer  at  the  close  of  the  last 
chapter;  but  its  tones  are  now  void  of  the  depth  and  fervor 
which  characterized  them  on  that  eventful  evening.  A 
root,  of  the  huge  tree  that  towered  superbly  above  him,  had 
burst  forth  from  its  dark  prison,  and  upon  this  the  young 
pastor  sat;  encircling  the  yielding  form  of  his  sister  with 
one  arm,  and  with  the  other  supporting  the  volume  from 
which  he  was  reading.  The  loving  eyes  of  Carrie,  were 
upturned  to  his,  and  while  her  tiny  hand  toyed  gently  with 
the  dark-curling  masses  that  overshadowed  his  brow,  she 
listened  with  pleased  attention  to  the  poet's  description  of 
the  wanderings  of  the  beautiful  Peri,  while  seeking  for  the 
gift  which  should  remove  the  crystal  bar  of  Eden,  and  un- 
close its  golden  gate. 

But  though  it  was  Erin's  glorious  harp  that  vibrated  be- 
neath the  pastor's  tones,  it  called  not  forth  their  full  depth 
and  richness,  as  the  sweet  songs  of  inspiration  were  wont 
to  do.  Once  only,  his  voice  thrilled  with  all  its  strength 
of  melody,  as  the  soul  of  the  poet  for  one  moment  seemed 
to  flow  in  unison  with  his  own : 

"Go,  wing  thy  flight  from  star  to  star, 
From  world  to  luminous  world,  as  far 
As  the  universe  spreads  its  naming  wall ; 
Take  all  the  pleasures  of  all  the  spheres, 
And  multiply  them  through  endless  years, 
One  moment  of  Heaven,  is  worth  them  aU." 

Upon  the  grass,  whose  rich  verdure  the  overshadowing 
leaves  of  the  chestnut  had  preserved  from  the  blighting 
breath  of  the  frost-king,  sat  the  proud  southern  girl ;  her 
lips  parted  breathlessly — her  hands  clasped  in  ecstasy — her 
dark  eyes  gleaming  with  the  softened  brilliancy  of  the  day- 
star,  and  the  delicate  hue  of  returning  health,  deepened  by 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  37 

the  excitement  of  the  moment,  into  a  warmer,  richer  color- 
inir  than  that  which  stained  the  forest  leaves.  Her  en- 

O 

chanted  spirit  soared  away  on  the  wings  of  the  Peri.  To 
her,  the  low,  murmuring  tone  of  the  river,  was  the  "music 
flowing  from  the  springs  of  life,"  and  the  rustling  of  the 
leaves  above  her  were  the  "crystal  bells  of  Eden,"  ring- 
ing in  their  own  "  ambrosial  breezes."  It  was  her  own 
favorite  poet,  whose  exquisite  creations  were  falling  upon 
her  charmed  ear,  and  whose  power,  in  by-gone  days,  was 
all  omnipotent  to  assuage  many  a  pang.  And  if  to  her 
uncultivated  ear  the  melody  of  his  verse  had  seemed  sweet 
as  the  "  music  of  the  spheres,"  with  what  intense  devotion 
did  she  now,  her  taste  refined  and  elevated  and  ethe- 
rialized  by  more  intimate  communings  with  the  spirit  of 
poesy,  bow  before  his  magic  shrine.  Fastidiously  she 
turned  from  all  others  to  the  muse  alone,  in  which  no  de- 
formities existed  to  shock  her  finely-organized  sensibilities ; 
but  in  whose  polished  and  glittering  and  harmonious  verse 
the  "genius  of  poetry  has  breathed  its  richest  enchant- 
ment." Her  soul  was  as  a  mirror  reflecting  the  brilliant 
spark  his  own  was  said  to  have  extracted  from  the  great 
Source  of  life  and  heat ;  and  it  was  well  for  this  being  of 
passion,  impulse  and  enthusiasm  that  her  brilliant  imagina- 
tion, her  luxuriant  fancy,  were  tempered  by  strong  common 
sense. 

"  A  master-piece  of  elocution,  truly,"  she  mentally  excla- 
imed. "Would  that  thy  jeweled  thoughts,  Tom  Moore, 
might  ever  find  so  worthy  a  deliverance,  even  though  it  be 
by  one  disposed  to  depreciate  all  human  composition." 

In  the  months  that  had  intervened  since  her  introduction 
to  Theodore  Neville,  if  Florence  had  not  learned  to  like 


38  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

him,  she  at  least  no  longer  regarded  him  with  the  aversion 
which  characterized  her  feelings  toward  him  previous  to, 
and  in  the  earlier  days  of,  their  acquaintance.  At  first  her 
dislike  had  increased  "an  hundred  fold,"  for  he  had  taken 
a  liberty  none  other  had  dared  to  do,  that  of  acquainting 
her  with  her  own  multitudinous  imperfections,  which  the 
blind  love  of  her  father  had  concealed  from  her  vision. 

Gently  and  soothingly  he  chided  her,  as  a  fond  mother 
would  a  wayward  child,  yet  her  proud  spirit  could  brook 
no  reproof.  She  would  fix  her  large,  dark  eyes  on  him, 
flashing  with  amazed  indignation  at  his  presumption  in 
reproving  one  so  perfect  as  she  had  been  taught  to  regard 
herself,  and  turn  haughtily  away  from  him,  every  action 
betraying  how  unpalatable  were  his  rebukes. 

"I  foresaw,"  she  would  say,  "that  I  should  be  con- 
stantly shocking  this  self-righteous  parson  by  my  worldli- 
ness  and  impetuosity ;  but  that  he  should  assume  the  office 
of  censor,  and  pass  condemnation  on  my  every  act,  this  has 
rather  exceeded  my  expectations.  I  detest  him — I  detest 
him,"  exclaimed  the  passionate  girl,  "  and  wish  so  sin- 
cerely he  had  never  returned.  He  is  constantly  forcing 
himself  in  my  presence,  when,  were  he  possessed  of  a  spark 
of  gentlemanly  pride,  he  would  perceive  by  my  avoidance 
of  iiim,  that  his  society  is  anything  but  agreeable,  and 
cease  his  persecutions.  "  Doubtless,"  and  at  the  thought 
her  tears  flowed  in  torrents,  "he  will  interdict  Carrie's 
intimacy  with  me  ;  he  will  fear  to  expose  his  pure  and 
guileless  Carrie  to  an  influence  so  evil  and  pernicious  as  he 
evidently  regards  mine  ta.be;  and  if  deprived  of  the  sweet 
solaces  of  her  affection,  no  power  on  earth  could  force  me 
to  remain  one  hour  in  this  hateful  place." 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  39 

Florence  misjudged  the  pastor  in  this,  as  in  many  other 
respects.  So  far  from  disapproving  their  intimacy,  the 
warm  affection  that  existed  between  them  was  to  him  a 
source  of  sincere  pleasure.  He  did  not,  as  Florence  sup- 
posed, fear  to  expose  the  purity  and  holiness  of  such  a 
character  as  his  sister's,  for  well  he  knew  that  its  founda- 
tion was  upon  a  rock — even  the  Rock  of  Ages,  and  that  the 
devastating  storms  of  sin  were  powerless  to  effect  its  ruin. 
On  the  contrary  he  hoped  much  from  its  influence  over  the 
impetuous,  but  noble-hearted  Florence.  It  was  mournful 
to  him  that  the  culture  of  a  mind  and  heart  of  so  rich  mate- 
rials should  thus  long  have  been  neglected,  and  that  rank 
weeds  had  been  suffered  to  luxuriate  in  a  soil,  where 
"flowers  and  fruits  meet  for  eternity,"  should  grow. 

He  entered  with  pleasure  upon  the  duties  Carrie  assigned 
him  in  the  intellectual  culture  of  her  friend,  and  sought  by 
every  means  in  his  power  to  arouse  Florence  to  mental  ex- 
ertion ;  and  it  was  not  long  ere  Carrie's  prediction  became 
verified  ;  her  studies  proved  fascinating  as  are  the  legends 
of  fairies  to  childhood.  We  shall  borrow  Milton's  beautiful 
climax  to  close  the  paragraph  :  "  The  hill-side  which,  at 
the  first  ascent,  had  seemed  so  laborious"  to  her,  "  was  now 
so  smooth,  so  green,  so  full  of  goodly  prospects  and  melo- 
dious sounds  on  every  side,  that  the  harp  of  Orpheus  was 
not  more  charming." 

Under  his  private  tuition,  the  culture  of  the  mind  and 
heart  were  intimately  blended.  Were  grammar  the  study 
under  contemplation ;  he  illustrated,  by  means  of  the  abso- 
lute and  entire  dependence  upon  each  other  of  the  members 
that  compose  the  great  family  of  words,  the  beautiful  har- 
mony of  brotherhood  existing  in  the  human  family,  where 


40  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

the  weak  and  the  strong  are  mutually  dependent ;  and  thus 
taught  her  the  vanity  and  absurdity  of  that  pride  which 
causes  man  to  boast  his  independence  of  his  fellow  man. 

Were  it  the  delightful  science  of  Linnaeus  that  engaged 
their  attention ;  how  quickly  was  the  thought  led  up  from 
the  tender  leaf — the  graceful  cup — to  the  hand  "  that 
fashioned"  it ;  to  Him  who  had  breathed  into  its  beautiful 
bosom  the  fragrant  breath,  and  dyed  it  with  the  colors 
glowing  in  his  own  bow  of  promise.  In  its  perishing  na- 
ture, blooming  to-day  in  magnificence  unsurpassed  by 
"  Solomon  in  all  his  glory,"  yet,  to-morrow,  withered 
beneath  the  noontide  sun  or  northern  blast,  he  pointed  out 
its  close  similitude  to  human  life,  and  taught  her  of  the 
transientness  of  all  created  things. 

Were  it  the  laws  that  regulate  the  motions  of  the  endless 
systems  of  worlds  that  claimed  their  amazed  attention ;  he 
sought  to  impress  her  with  .true  conceptions  of  the  might, 
the  majesty,  the  wisdom  of  the  Being  who  had  conceived 
and  kept  in  order  this  stupendous  machinery,  in  comparison 
with  whose  wondrous  powers,  all  man's  boasted  superiority 
of  intellect  is  as  naught,  and  he  stands  forth  in  utter  insig- 
nificance, as  "  but  an  atom  of  dust." 

It  was  thus  the  young  pastor  instilled  into  the  mind  and 
heart  of  Florence  the  wisdom  of  this  world  and  of  the  world 
to  come.  With  profound  insight  into  the  native  depravity 
of  the  heart,  he  had  searched  out  her  peculiar  defects,  and 
applied  himself  vigorously  to  remove  them.  That  they 
were  in  a  great  measure  the  result  of  an  unwise  training, 
gave  him  hopes  of  a  speedy  eradication^  He  had  early  dis- 
covered the  undue  regard  she  paid  to  wealth,  beauty  and 
intellect,  and  sought  to  correct  her  false  valuation  of  them. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  41 

His  moral  lessons  were  a  novel  kind  of  lore  to  Florence, 
and  in  direct  contradiction  to  the  teachings  of  her  whole 
life.  Her  proud  independence  was  humbled,  for  he  had 
shown  her  that,  by  a  wise  provision  of  Providence,  none  are, 
or  can  be,  exempt  from  dependence ;  that,  as  in  a  sentence, 
the  smallest  word  frequently  becomes  the  most  important, 
the  very  hinge  on  which  the  sentence  turns,  so  the  hum- 
blest individual  in  society  may  be  the  most  useful — the  one 
on  which  the  general  comfort  most  depends.  Of  her 
beauty,  which,  from  her  infancy,  had  called  forth  the  high- 
est encomiums  from  her  friends,  and  which  she,  in  conse- 
quence, was  disposed  to  exult  over  as  a  treasure  "  above 
all  price, "he  had  taught  her  by  the  transient  beauty  of  the 
flowers  which  "  to-day  are,  and  to-morrow  are  not,"  the 
worthlessness  of  treasures  so  fleeting.  Even  in  her  reve- 
rence and  adoration  of  intellect  he  foresaw  evil,  and  endea- 
vored to  show  her  the  lilliputian  character  of  the  powers  of 
the  strongest  intellect,  when  compared  with  those  of  the 
Great  Intelligence  above. 

Well  might  Florence  have  bowed  her  proud  form  in  deep 
and  earnest  gratitude  to  Him  who  had  directed  her  foot- 
steps to  the  vale  of  S ;  for  if,  as  the  Apostle  tells  us, 

"evil  communications  corrupt  good  manners,"  then  must 
pure  and  elevated  sentiments  and  enlarged  benevolence 
produce  a  purifying  and  exalting  effect:  and  fortunate, 
thrice  fortunate  are  those  who  come  within  the  pale  of 
their  ennobling  influence. 

Her  intimate  association  with  two  whose  gentleness  of 

soul,  elevation  of  mind,  grace  of  disposition,  and  refinement 

of  manner  are  rarely  to  be  found  in  this  degenerate  world, 

removed  the  vail  from  her  eyes  and  exhibited  in  strong 

4 


42  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

contrast  her  own  deformities  of  character.  She  no  longer 
recoiled  in  anger  from  the  pastor's  gentle  reproofs,  for  she 
could  not  meet  his  grave  and  sad  expression  without  feel- 
ing how  repugnant  it  was  to  natures  such  as  his  to  censure ; 
but  that  he  dared  not  shrink  from  aught  that  he  conceived 
to  be  a  duty ;  and  that  he  was  seeking  to  mould  her  char- 
acter into  the  beautiful  form  of  his  young  sister's  —  one 
which  she  herself,  in  her  enthusiastic  admiration,  regarded 
as  the  most  perfect  on  earth. 

She  exerted  herself  nobly  to  restrain  every  propensity  to 
err,  and  as  months  wore  on,  they  wrought  (much  to  the 
gratification  of  the  friends  so  deeply  interested  in  her)  a 
gradual  transformation. 

The  young  pastor  felt  the  interest  his  sister  had  awak- 
ened previous  to  his  acquaintance  with  Florence,  deepening 
daily.  Various  causes  contributed  to  this;  her  youth,  her 
distance  from  her  friends,  her  beauty — yes,  her  beauty,  too, 
for  to  a  nature  so  susceptible  to  impressions  of  loveliness  as 
was  his,  so  faultless  a  specimen  of  beauty  could  not  fail  to 
excite  his  admiration :  her  rare  and  original  powers  of 
mind;  her  generous,  enthusiastic,  affectionate  disposition 
which  even  overweening  indulgence  had  not  sullied,  all 
were  as  so  many  links  to  bind  her  to  his  heart,  and  it  was 
a  golden  chain  that  bound,  whose  fetters  were  to  be  un- 
clasped no  more  forever. 

Will  the  reader  forgive  the  digression  while  I  pause  to 
pay  a  brief  but  feeble  tribute  to  the  memory  of  one  whose 
kindness  and  love  shed  such  a  halo  of  happiness  on  the 
halcyon  period  of  my  youth? 

Dear,  good,  ever-to-be-venerated  Mrs.  Ormond,  our 
much-loved  preceptor !  how  "  pleasing,  yet  mournful  to 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  43 

the  soul"  is  the  remembrance  of  the  elysian  hours  spent 
within  thy  home.  Alas !  that  they  should  have  flown  so 
fleetly.  Alas !  that  happiness,  such  as  then  enjoyed,  shall 
be  our  portion  on  earth  no  more.  With  the  joy  of  a  pri- 
soned bird,  whose  wings  have  been  suddenly  unfettered, 
the  mind  flies  from  the  dark  realities  of  the  present — the 
revealings  of  the  dim  and  shadowy  future — to  that  sweet 
oasis  of  life,  which  the  sunshine  of  thy  love  made  so  bright 
and  beautiful.  Bright,  fleeting  hours !  ye  are  treasured, 
with  all  your  hallowed  teachings,  in  memory's  choicest  cells. 

Though  the  green  sod  rests  above  thee  now,  our  more 
than  "  mother !"  thy  virtuous  example,  thy  priceless  pre- 
cepts will  live  through  all  time,  and  their  impress  be  found 
in  eternity !  While  the  hearts  of  those  upon  whom  thou 
wast  wont  to  bestow  the  sweet  title  of  "daughters"  are 
touched  and  melted  in  grateful  remembrance  of  thy  labors 
of  love,  a  wail  goes  up  from  out  their  depths,  in  that  thy 
gentle  ministry  on  earth  is  ended. 

Often,  when  the  holy  hush  of  twilight  rests  upon  the 
earth,  scenes  of  those  loved  hours  return;  again  ye  are 
before  me  in  all  the  majestic  dignity  of  the  Roman  matron, 
and  the  gentle  loveliness  of  the  Christian  mother.  Again  we 
are  gathered  about  you  to  sing  our  evening  hymn  of  praise, 
and  on  either  side  of  you,  as  in  days  of  yore,  occupying 
the  seats  of  honor,  as  we  termed  them,  are  the  little 
orphans  of  our  flock — Ada  and  Mina,  and  Bella  and  Ridie, 
with  their  tiny  hands  clasped  lovingly  in  thine.  The  knell 
of  those  vanished  hours  rings  mournfully  through  my  soul ; 
but,  Oh  !  may  we  all  be  reunited  in  that  bright  home  where 
now  thy  freed  spirit  dwellest,  whose  prototype  thine  earthly 
home  was. 


44  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

Knowing  how  the  buoyant,  exuberant  spirits  of  youth 
chafe  at  confiement  within  doors  in  the  vernal  season  of 
the  year,  Mrs.  Ormond,  ever  mindful  of  our  present  happi- 
ness as  well  as  that  which  was  to  come,  permitted  us  at  the 
close  of  recitations  for  the  day,  to  take  our  books  and  roam 
freely  over  the  beautiful  domain  of  the  seminary,  and  seek 
out  some  retired  spot  to  prepare  the  lessons  for  the  coming 
morrow.  Were  any  disposed  to  be  negligent  of  their 
duties,  the  penalty  was  confinement  to  the  warm,  close 
solitude  of  the  school-room  on  the  succeeding  day ;  and  I 
need  scarcely  add  that  the  delinquents  were  few  in  num- 
ber; for  under  the  genial  influences  of  the  forest  the  per- 
ceptions become  clearer,  and  the  mind  more  readily  grasps 
and  overcomes  difficulties. 

Each  pupil  of  us  had  some  favorite  nook  to  which  to 
resort;  and  Florence  and  Carrie  had  selected  the  inclosure 
of  the  chestnut,  where  they  were  now  seated,  for  their 
"studio,"  as  they  playfully  termed  it.  It  was  in  this 
sweet  seclusion  that  the  mind  of  Florence  first  became  im- 
bued with  a  full  appreciation  of  study.  It  was  here  the 
young  pastor  sought  them,  and  administered  the  wholesome 
reproofs  which  at  first,  as  we  have  seen,  called  forth  bursts 
of  indignation,  and  the  instructions  which  awakened  the 
desire  for  mental  and  moral  improvement. 

After  the  appointed  tasks  were  duly  mastered,  he  read 
to  them,  as  we  find  him  engaged  on  this  evening,  from 
some  work  of  his  own  or  of  their  selection,  until  the  vesper 
bell  summoned  them  to  the  seminary.  The  English  classics 
had  engaged  them  mostly,  through  the  past  summer 
months,  and  he  had  directed  Florence's  attention  to  beau- 
ties of  style  and  sentiment,  unperceived  by  her  in  her  former 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS,  45 

rapid  flight  over  the  same  pages.  It  was  by  this  refining 
process  that  her  fine  mental  powers  were  developed  and 
improved. 

The  highly  poetical  temperament  of  Florence  most  fre- 
quently inclined  her  selections  to  be  from  the  poets ;  for  to 
her  poetry  was  the  dessert  of  the  intellectual  banquet — the 
"crowning  glory  of  the  feast."  It  was  she  who  had 
requested  him  to  read  Moore's  inimitable  "  Paradise  and 
the  Peri,"  which  she  was  now  drinking  in  with  such  ecsta- 
tic pleasure. 

The  Peri's  wanderings  were  ended — the  book  was  closed — 
and  the  golden  atmosphere  of  youth's  delicious  reveries  en- 
veloped them  in  its  folds.  Never  were  there  three  youthful 
countenances  more  exultant  of  happiness,  or  more  attractive 
in  their  various  types  and  shades  of  beauty,  than  those  be- 
neath the  chestnut's  shade,  which  the  sweet  south  winds 
were  fanning  with  their  gentle  breath. 

Several  crimsoned  leaves  fell  with  a  gentle  murmur  upon 
Florence's  clasped  hands,  and  rousing  from  her  reverie,  she 
gazed  for  a  moment  upon  them,  then  turning  to  the  pastor, 
said:  "I  am  reminded  by  these  falling  leaves,  of  the  near 
termination  of  our  visits  to  this  pleasant  resort.  A  few 
weeks  more,  and  nature  will  be  enwrapped  in  Winter's  cold 
and  dreary  mantle,  and  Carrie  and  I  will  be  glad  to  avail 
ourselves  of  the  genial  warmth  of  the  school-room  for  a 
'studio.'  Your  valued  instructions  will  then  cease ;  I  hope 
ardently,  though,  to  be  renewed  again  in  the  Spring,  for  I 
cannot  willingly  dispense  with  them.  And  if  it  be  true,  as 
Mrs.  Ormond  flatteringly  tells  me,  that  my  progress  in  the 
studies  assigned  me,  has  been  almost  unparalleled,  I  cannot 
but  feel  deeply  grateful  to  you  for  my  success."  The 


46  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

expression  was  more  grave  and  earnest,'  than  the  countenance 
of  Florence  De  Lisle  had  ever  before  assumed — a  moment 
more  and  it  had  vanishedv  "Confess,"  continued  she 
laughingly,  "  Mr.  Neville,  that  in  the  early  stage  of  our 
acquaintance,  you  thought  me  the  most  degenerate  of  all 
the  daughters  of  Mother  Eve  ;  as  ferocious  as  a  young  ti- 
gress, and  as  untamed  and  uncivilized,  as  the  red-browed 
maidens  who  once  roamed  in  proud  independence  through 
these  grand  old  forests." 

"  I  do  confess,"  replied  Mr.  Neville,  "that  I  was  pained 
to  discover  some  traits  of  character  which  I  could  not 
wholly  approve — dark  spots  they  were,  which  sullied  and 
marred  its  beauty ;  but  my  gratification  is  heightened  in 
consequence  of  their  rapid  disappearance,  and  its  'growing 
brighter  and  brighter,'  I  hope,  'even  unto  a  more  perfect 
day.' " 

Very  grateful  to  the  ear  of  Florence  were  these  words  of 
praise ;  more  so,  perhaps,  than  she  would  have  willingly 
owned ;  for  she  felt  that  it  was  no  vapid  compliment,  but 
the  utterance  of  a  heart  of  sincerity  and  truth.  And  as 
the  sun  sank  slowly  down  to  rest  upon  his  golden  bed,  and 
the  bell  resounded  throughout  the  vale,  calling  in  the  stray- 
ing lambs  to  the  nightly  fold,  Florence  turned  homeward 
with  a  heart  softened  toward  the  young  pastor. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  47 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Beside  the  bed  where  parting  life  was  laid, 

And  sorrow,  guilt,  and  pain  by  turns  dismay'd, 

The  youthful  champion  stood.    At  his  control, 

Despair  and  anguish  fled  the  struggling  soul, 

Comfort  came  down  the  wretch  to  raise, 

And  his  last  faltering  accents  whisper'd  praise. — GOLDSMITH. 

Love!  gentlest  spirit!  I  do  tell  of  thee.  LAXDOX. 

By  lore  invulnerable  thought, 

Searching  in  books  for  wisdom's  aid, 

Was  in  the  very  search  betrayed.  SWIFT. 

Tour  lessons  found  the  weakest  part, 

Aim'd  at  the  liead,  but  reach'd  the  heart.  IBID. 

THE  first  year  of  Florence's  residence  in  S valley 

had  passed,  and  the  anniversary  of  her  arrival  was  glad- 
dened by  a  visit  from  her  father,  who  paused  in  his  north- 
ern tour  to  spend  several  weeks  with  her. 

His  heart  was  overjoyed  beyond  the  power  of  language 
to  express,  at  witnessing  the  wondrous  improvement  which 
the  passing  months  had  wrought.  He  beheld  his  darling 
growing  rapidly  into  womanhood  —  glorious,  blooming 
womanhood  —  her  health  permanently  restored,  and  her 
intellect  expanding,  strengthening,  and  maturing  under 
Mrs.  Ormond's  wise  supervision.  Her  wild  exuberance  of 
spirits  (usually  the  offspring  of  a  vigorous  state  of  health 
and  a  heart  overflowing  with  happiness)  almost  brought 
back  youth  to  his  soul — at  all  events,  under  their  magical 
influence,  the  concomitants  of  that  blissful  period — joy  and 
nappiness — once  more  returned  to  him. 


48  EAKLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

There  was  now  a  sure  prospect  of  the  realization  of  cer- 
tain ambitious  hopes  cherished,  almost  unconsciously,  for 
years — even  in  that  gloomy  period  when  she  was  wasting 
away  by  disease,  lying  apparently  under  the  ban  of  "  those 
whom  the  gods  love."  They  were  in  reference  to  her 
future  establishment  in  life.  Though  to  his  fond  heart  "  the 
purple  and  fine  linen"  of  royalty  were  alone  the  fitting 
vestments  for  his  idolized  child,  and  though  he  felt  the 
proudest  throne  in  Christendom  would  be  graced  by  her 
presence,  he  was  too  true  a  republican  to  sigh  for  the  honors 
of  royalty  for  her.  Unbounded  wealth  and  the  influence  it 
commands  was  the  extent  of  his  loftiest  aspirations,  and 
this  might  be  secured  by  her  union  with  his  ward,  whose 
immense  estate  lay  in  close  contiguity  to  theirs.  The  two 
united  would  exceed,  in  extent  and  value,  that  of  any  other 
in  the  State — stretching  away  over  many  miles,  and  yield- 
ing an  income  which  would  afford  a  style  of  living  of  the 
most  princely  magnificence. 

No  thought  crossed  the  worldly-minded  father,  that 
wealth  is  powerless  to  secure  happiness.  To  those  of  the 

« 

"  earth  earthy,"  it  is  the  basis  of  their  best  hopes.  He  was 
intoxicated  with  delight  at  the  enviable  position  which 
awaited  his  child,  and  now  was  the  gloom  which  over- 
.  shadowed  his  morning  of  life  dispelled  by  the  glorious  sun- 
light of  happiness  that  beamed  upon  him  ! 

Soon  as  the  genial  breath  of  spring  had  unbound  the  icy 
fetters  of  the  stern  despot,  Winter,  from  the  brooks  and 
streams,  and  the  joyous  tones  which  burst  forth  from  the 
freed  waters  were  re-echoed  by  the  feathery  songsters  of 
the  grove,  when  the  timid  violets  ventured  to  open  their  blue 
eyes  and  again  nestle  lovingly  upon  the  soft  bosom  of  the 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  49 

earth,  and  the  more  self-reliant  buttercup  uplifted  its 
golden  cup  to  the  sunlight  and  breeze,  then  the  young  stu- 
dents once  more  bent  their  elastic  footsteps  to  their  various 
loved  resorts. 

The  heart  of  youth  is  apt  to  overflow  with  joy  at  the 
return  of  spring — the  beautiful  prototype  of  that  halcyon 
season  of  life  ;  but  when  the  spirit  of  poesy  is  enshrined 
within  its  verdant  depths,  truly  then  does  it  burst  forth  with 
yet  a  fuller  flow  of  gladness  at  the  awakening  into  life  of  all 
spring's  varied  beauties. 

It  was  thus  with  Florence ;  her  heart  was  a  fountain  of 
joy,  whose  glad  waters  gushed  forth  in  copious,  brilliant, 
flashing  showers  of  conversation  upon  the  companions  of  her 
walk  on  the  sweet  spring  evening,  when,  after  an  absence  of 
several  months,  they  revisited  their  "rural  studio." 

On  drawing  near  to  the  old  chestnut,  she  sprang  fleetly 
forward,  and  sinking  down  at  its  base,  thre\v  her  delighted 
glance  upward  to  where  its  thousand  tender,  leafy  lungs 
were  expanding  in  the  balmy  breathings  of  the  spring. 

"All  hail!"  she  exclaimed  in  sportive  gayety,  "  thou 
king  of  a  race  of  kings !  Once  more  we  renew  our  alle- 
giance to  thee,  duly  impressed  with  thy  beauty,  and 
majesty,  and  power  of  conferring  happiness  on  those  who 
seek  thy  protection." 

The  fine,  mild  eyes  of  the  pastor  expressed  how  deeply 
he  sympathized  in  the  general  joy,  and  his  heart  re-echoed 
the  songs  of  praise  with  which  grateful  Nature  saluted  her 
great  Creator. 

He  resumed  his  private  course  of  tuition,  which  the 
inclemency  of  winter  had  suspended,  and  again  became  the 
sun  of  Florence's  intellectual  world  —  illuming  its  dark 


60  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

places,  and  causing  the  rose  to  bloom  in  its  desert  wastes. 
Greatly  to  her  delight,  he  also  resumed  his  fine  "readings" 
of  her  favorite  poets. 

There  are  none  who  have  had  the  opportunity,  but  must 
have  felt  how  the  "  best  charms  of"  the  author  "  improve" 
under  the  influence  of  eloquent  reading.  Most  certainly, 
Florence  appreciated  with  her  whole  soul  the  additional 
graces  with  which  his  deep-toned  voice  and  perfect  elocu- 
tion invested  them,  for  never  before  had  they  thrilled  her 
with  such  intensity  of  power  and  melody. 

Truly,  it  was  a  dangerous  position  for  a  maiden  of  six- 
teen to  be  placed  in,  whose  heart  was  glowing  with  the  fire 
of  her  own  southern  sun — drinking  in  with  an  enraptured 
spirit  the  rich  strains  of  poetry  which  fell  from  the  lips — 
even  though  it  be  of  a  parson — a  country  parson,  as  she  had 
once  scornfully  termed  him — it  was  one,  with  whom  she, 
fastidious  as  were  her  ideas  of  manly  perfection,  could  now 
find  no  fault,  save  of  the  meek  humility  of  a  nature,  which 
disregarded  earthly  honors,  and  sought  only  those  despised 
by  its  votaries.  The  proud  "young  southern  heiress," 
who  was  predestined  to  so  brilliant  a  fate,  daily  thrown  into 
the  society  of  one  —  if  between  whose  temperament  and 
hers  there  were  few  points  of  resemblance,  there  was  at 
least  great  congeniality  of  taste,  and  kindred  genius. 

Guard  well  thy  heart,  Florence  Delisle!  with  all  its 
unbounded  capacities  for  loving,  well  mayest  thou  fear  the 
approach  of  that  master-passion,  whose  breath  must  prove 
to  thee  deadly  as  the  Sirocco's  blast,  or  blissful  as  th^e 
breeze  of  Eden,  More  keenly  than  all  thy  loving  sister- 
hood shalt  thou  feel  '.'  the  concentrated  joy  or  woe,  of  blest 
or  blighted  love  !" 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  61 

It  was  equally  dangerous  for  Mr.  Neville  to  be  exposed 
to  the  fascinating-  graces,  personal  and  mental,  of  bis  young 
pupil.  Should  he — and  he  was  but  mortal  man,  though 
superior  to  many  of  the  failings  of  humanity — should  he 
aspire  to  the  love  of  this  maiden — he  who  should  seek  one  of 
deep  humility  and  Christian  gentleness  as  the  fitting  bride 
for  an  apostle  of  the  "meek  and  lowly  Jesus  ?"  should  he, 
forgetful  of  the  barriers  interposed  between  them  by  the 
gods  of  this  world — her  wealth  and  his  poverty — dare  hope 
to  win  her  love,  how  were  those  barriers  to  be  removed  ? 

"  Poor  suffering  race,  said  the  pitying  spirit, 

Dearly  ye  pay  for  your  primal  fall ; 
Some  flowers  of  Eden  ye  still  inherit, 
But  the  trail  of  the  serpent  is  over  them  all." 

Love  is  the  queen  floweret  of  Eden,  and,  in  his  expulsion, 
was  not  withheld  from  man ;  but  it  is  now  no  longer  a 
thornless  one,  as  many  torn  and  lacerated  bosoms  attest,  in 
which  it  has  rooted  and  bloomed. 

An  intimate  acquaintance,  of  more  than  a  year's  dura- 
tion, had  revealed  to  Florence  all  Mr.  Neville's  excellencies 
of  character,  and  these,  united  with  his  commanding  tal- 
ents, won  (though  at  first  reluctantly)  her  respect  and  ad- 
miration. Gradually  all  her  former  prejudices  had  given 
way,  and  she  now  regarded,  not  with  contempt,  but  with 
a  great  degree  of  commiseration,  one  who  seemed  so  uncon- 
scious of  his  lofty  powers  of  mind,  and  she  regretted  sin- 
cerely their  loss  to  the  world,  whose  rightful  possession  she 
felt  they  were. 

The  world  delights  to  honor  those  only,  who,  in  the.  heat 
and  fury  of  battle,  most  deeply  steep  their  hands  in  human 
gore — or  the  orator  whose  unrivaled  eloquence  is  expended 


52  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

on  topics  grateful  to  its  ear.  To  these  are  erected  the  costly 
monument  of  bronze  or  marble  ;  but  to  those  whose  ener- 
gies are  enlisted  in  preparing  their  fellow-men  for  that  world 
where  time  is  swallowed  up  in  eternity,  no  earthly  honors 
are  decreed  —  no  handsome  monument  is  reared  to  them, 
challenging,  with  its  high  eulogiums,  the  admiration  of 
mankind.  Ah  !  no ;  but  around  the  throne  of  grace,  there, 
in  majestic  loveliness,  will  be  found  living  monuments  of 
their  labors  of  love  on  earth. 

Once,  after  having  listened  to  a  discourse  of  more  than 
usual  ability  (for  there  were  few  of  his  audience  more 
attentive  than  she — not  that  the  subject  was  precious  to  her 
soul,  but  for  the  luster  of  beauty  his  genius  threw  around 
it),  Florence  walked  homeward  silently  thoughtful  by  the 
side  of  her  much  loved  friend,  more  than  ever  impressed 
with  the  splendor  of  his  talents,  and  the  unrivaled 
position  they  might  command,  under  favorable  circum- 
stances. 

At  length  she  spoke  :  "I  am  lost  in  amazement,  Carrie, 
that  one  of  your  brother's  superior  talents,  should  be  so  de- 
void of  ambition.  Even  if  it  be  not  'native  and  to  the  manor 
born'  of  every  heart,  brilliant  genius,  of  whatever  character, 
is  apt  to  give  it  birth.  I  cannot  but  regret,  for  his  sake, 
and  that  of  humanity  in  general,  his  present  obscure 
location." 

"  My  brother  has  ambition,"  replied  Caroline,  with  an 
enthusiasm  quite  unusual  to  one  of  so  placid  a  temperament, 
"  but  it  is  a  higher,  nobler,  holier  ambition  than  that  which 
has  for  its  object  worldly  honors.  And  are  there  not  souls 
to  be  saved  here,  as  well  as  in  the  more  extensive  fields  of 
God's  vineyard  ?" 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  53 

"Most  certainly,"  replied  Florence,  laughingly;  "but 
the  future  salvation  of  these  poor  simple  souls  might  be 
secured  with  a  tenth  part  of  his  talents. 

They  had  reached  the  gate  which  opened  into  the  semi- 
nary inclosure  just  as  she  uttered  this  ;  her  hands  were 
lifted  to  unclose  it,  but  the  pastor,  contrary  to  his  usual 
custom,  had  accompanied  Mrs.  Ormond  home,  and  now 
stepped  forward  to  anticipate  the  act.  Her  glance  became 
more  brilliant  at  the  interposition  of  his  fine  form,  and  com- 
plimentary words  on  his  recent  masterly  effort  sprang  to 
her  lips ;  but  they  were  palsied  as  she  met  the  stern, 
reproving  glance  he  cast  upon  her.  She  was  petrified  with 
astonishment  at  the  sudden  change,  for  but  a  moment  pre- 
vious, and  he  stood  before  her  in  the  sacred  desk,  his 
countenance  radiant  with  holy  emotion.  He  threw  the 
gates  wide  apart,  and  the  crowd  of  girls  and  teachers 
passed  hurriedly  through,  and  there  was  no  opportunity  for 
an  explanation. 

She  sought  the  solitude  of  her  chamber,  and  endeavored 
by  a  close  and  scrutinizing  survey  of  her  actions,  to  ascer- 
tain in  what  manner  she  had  offended  him.  It  was  evident 
to  her  that  he  had  overheard  the  conversation  between 
Carrie  and  herself ;  but  her  heart  was  as  yet  but  a  compound 
of  earthy  particles,  and  she  understood  not  the  true  nature 
of  her  offense. 

She  knew  not  how  shockingly  painful  to  the  disciples  of 
Christ  is  the  profanity  of  a  jest  founded  on  so  sacred  a 
subject  as  the  "future  salvation  of  souls  "  —  that  salvation 
which  was  purchased  by  the  agonizing  death  of  the  cross — 
secured  but  by  the  precious  blood  which  crimsoned  the 
heights  of  Calvary. 


64  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

There  seemed  to  her  but  one  probable  cause.  He  had, 
upon  several  occasions,  checked  her  when  eulogizing  his 
talents,  by  very  decided  manifestations,  that  the  theme  was 
not  a  pleasant  one  to  him,  and  it  now  occurred  to  her  that 
his  present  displeasure  originated  in  his  dislike  to  her  re- 
marks to  Carrie,  which  he  had  inadvertently  overheard. 
Notwithstanding  she  was  mortified  and  distressed  at  having 
given  him  the  slightest  cause  of  offense,  her  admiration  of 
him  reached  a  point  far  beyond  that  which  it  had  ever 
before  attained. 

"  How  superior,  indeed,  must  that  nature  be,"  thought 
she,  "  which  can  resist  the  charms  of  personal  laudation — 
a  weakness  rarely  overcome  by  those  of  the  greatest  strength 
of  character." 

She  sat  for  some  time,  lost  in  deep  thought,  the  expres- 
sion of  her  countenance  indicating  that  they  were  not  ex- 
actly "couleur  du  rose" — the  native  hue  of  a  maiden's  rev- 
eries. At  length,  she  roused  from  her  abstraction,  and 
joined  her  classmates  on  the  portico,  and  endeavored,  by 
lively  conversation,  to  overcome  her  depression  of  spirits ; 
but  the  effort  was  unavailing.  She  went  forth  into  the 
grove,  and  sat  down  upon  the  soft,  green  turf.  In  times 
gone  by,  the  sweet,  soothing  influences  of  nature  were  all- 
powerful  to  calm  every  disquietude  of  mind  ;  but  not  now 
were  they  of  any  avail — not  even  the  fascinating  pages  of 
a  favorite  author,  to  which  she  turned  as  a  "  dernier  re- 
sort," "  could  a  charm  impart  to  soothe  "  her  perturbed 
feelings. 

When  the  bell  tolled  the  hour  of  the  vesper  service,  Flo- 
rence hastened  with  a  sense  of  relief  toward  the  seminary; 
but  on  reaching  the  door,  she  paused  suddenly — not  again 


EAKLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  55 

dared  she  encounter  a  glance,  such  as  that  which  even  yet 
pierced  as  a  barbed  arrow  in  her  bosom.  She  turned 
away,  and  leaned  heavily  against  a  column  of  the  portico. 

As  the  sweet  evening  hymn  came  issuing  through  the 
opened  windows,  and  the  voice  of  the  pastor  pronouncing 
the  nightly  benediction,  in  tones  deep,  low,  and,  it  seemed 
to  her,  so  sad,  withal  —  bitter  and  passionate  tears  fell  in 
torrents  over  her  cheeks. 

At  length  there  was  a  footstep  on  the  portico,  and  look- 
ing up,  she  beheld  the  young  pastor  passing  onward  to  the 
parlor.  With  characteristic  impetuosity,  she  sprang  to  his 
side,  and  clasping  her  hands  convulsively  on  his  arm, 
she  murmured,  in  earnest  and  pleading  tones,  "  Forgive 
me." 

Mr.  Neville  gazed  upon  her  for  a  moment  in  compassion- 
ate tenderness  —  then  pointing  upward,  with  solemn  em- 
phasis, replied,  "  Not  me — but  Him  have  you  offended." 

There  were  voices  and  the  sound  of  coming  footsteps, 
and  Florence  hastened  away  to  hide  her  agitation  from  her 
young  friends  who  were  approaching.  She  was  in  a  maze 
of  perplexity  as  to  his  meaning.  Although  he  had  dis- 
claimed being  offended,  still  she  could  not  banish  the 
thought  that  he  was,  and  his  reproachful  glance  haunted 
her  distractingly. 

Her  dreams,  which  had  hitherto  known  no  sorrow,  were 
now  gloomy,  disturbed,  and  frequently  broken — but  through 
the  long  watches  of  that  restless  night,  it  was  the  conscious- 
ness of  his  displeasure,  not  that  of  the  offended  Majesty 
above,  that  sent  the  pang  through  her  heart. 

Several  days  passed  —  restless,  unhappy  days  to  Flor 
ence  ;  for  her  spirits,  despite  her  strenuous  efforts  to  the 


56  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

contrary,  were  disturbed  and  agitated  at  the  thought  of  the 
pastor's  displeasure. 

He  was  detained  from  his  daily  visits  to  the  seminary,  by 
the  illness  of  one  of  his  parishioners.  The  man  was  sick, 
"  even  unto  death,"  and  the  pastor  rarely  left  his  dying 
couch.  Deprived  of  all  natural  friends,  he  was  dependent 
upon  the  kindness  of  aliens  from  his  blood.  Under  such 
circumstances,  the  young  pastor  became  equally  a  physical 
and  spiritual  comforter  —  bathing  the  fevered  brow  and 
burning  hands — holding  the  cooling  draught  to  the  parched 
lips,  and  breathing  to  the  tortured  soul,  hope  in  a  Savior's 
dying  love.  He  left  not  until  the  spirit  had  flown,  and  the 
dust  was  consigned  to  the  dust  from  whence  it  sprang. 

It  was  the  evening  of  the  fourth  day  since  his  absence, 
and  Florence  sat  alone  in  the  "rural  studio,"  poring  over 
the  accustomed  task,  with  a  partially  distracted  attention. 
Her  eyes  frequently  wandered  along  the  pathway  which  led 
to  it,  as  though  she  expected  the  coming  of  some  one. 

She  had  heard  the  church-bell  tolling  the  funeral  knell 
of  the  departed  soul,  and  faintly  hoped  that  the  pastor 
would  pause  at  the  seminary  on  his  return  from  the  solemn 
service,  and  as  was  his  usual  custom,  at  that  hour,  seek  her 
in  the  grove. 

At  length  her  wandering  glances  were  rewarded,  by  the 
approach  of  the  expected  visitor.  She  arose  to  receive  him 
with  a  timidity  and  trepidation  of  manner,  quite  surprising  in 
the  proud,  spoiled,  idolized  beauty,  who,  in  general,  regard- 
ed all  honored,  whose  acquaintance  she  acknowledged. 

With  a  timid,  doubtful  glance,  her  eyes  were  raised  to 
his ;  there  was  no  sternness  in  their  expression  now,  and 
the  cloud  which  had  rested  on  her  spirits  since  the  pre- 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  57 

ceding  Sabbath,  passed  away,  swift  as  the  lightning's  flash, 
before  his  sweet,  yet  melancholy  smile. 

She  advanced  to  meet  him,  and  as  he  clasped  the  hand 
she  extended  in  her  pleasure  at  seeing  him,  all  her  wild 
gayety  of  spirits  was  restored. 

"  I  am  so  happy  to  see  you,"  she  exclaimed.  "  My  les- 
sons have  been  but  half-learned  during  your  absence,  and  I 
am,  consequently,  in  high  disgrace  with  Miss  Johnson. 
However,  I  am  not  so  selfish  as  to  rejoice  at  your  return, 
solely  on  that  account,  though  well  aware  that  through 
your  instrumentality  I  shall  again  be  able  to  ingratiate  my- 
self in  the  good  graces  of  that  most  erudite  lady.  But  my 
lessons  are  insufferably  dull  without  you  ;  and  our  "  studio" 
is  lonely,  indeed,  when  you  are  gone." 

The  warmth  of  her  welcome  sank  deeply  into  the  pas- 
tor's heart,  but  the  solemn  scenes  he  had  just  witnessed, 
prevented  his  partaking  of  her  gayety. 

He  led  her  to  a  seat  on  the  upturned  roots  of  the  tree, 
nnd  as  he  sat  beside  her,  conversed  long,  solemnly  and  ear- 
nestly, on  the  nature  and  magnitude  of  her  offense  of  the 
previous  Sabbath  ;  and  of  the  importance  of  the  subject, 
which  she  evidently  regarded  in  so  trivial  a  manner. 
This  precious  seed  did  not  at  once  spring  up,  yet  it  fell  not 
in  a  wholly  barren  soil — long  years  afterward  it  was  des- 
tined to  yield  a  glorious  harvest. 

Florence  returned  that  evening — her  heart  throbbing 
with  a  rapidly  accelerated  motion.  A  light,  all  strange  and 
new,  but  bright,  joyous  and  beautiful,  streamed  through  its 
portals,  irradiating  its  inmost  recesses,  and  was  warmly  re- 
flected from  the  depths  of  her  dark  eyes. 

Again  she  was  restored  to  his  favor — again  he  had  smiled 


&8  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

upon  her,  that  peculiarly  winning  smile,  whose  power  she 
had  felt  even  in  the  period  of  her  greatest  dislike  to  him  ; 
and  she  was  as  happy,  far  happier,  than  the  birds  whose 
uproarious  joy  filled  the  forests. 

It  was  the  first  time  she  freely  acknowledged  his  power 
over  her  ;  but  now,  she  felt  that  his  approbation  was  by  far 
too  dear  to  her  peace  of  mind,  to  be  lightly  lost ;  and  here, 
had  Florence  been  endowed  with  oracular  powers,  might 
she  have  discovered  the  first  landmark  of  an  affection, 
which  would  resist  all  time's  mutations. 

Henceforth  she  endeavored  to  mould  every  thought, 
feeling,  taste  and  action  in  accordance  with  his. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  59 


CHAPTER    V. 

I  saw  two  beings  in  the  hues  of  youth 
Standing  upon  a  hill,  a  gentle  hill. 
These  two,  a  maiden  and  a  youth,  were  there, 
Gazing — the  one  on  all  that  was  beneath, 
Fair  as  herself— but  the  boy  gazed  on  her. 
lie  had  no  breath  nor  being,  but  in  hers : 
But  she  in  these  fond  feelings  had  no  share. 

To  her  he  was 

Even  as  a  brother — but  no  more  :  'twas  much, 
For  brotherle&s  she  was,  save  in  the  name 
Her  infant  friendship  had  bestowed  on  him, 
Herself  the  solitary  scion  left  of  a  time-honored  race. 

BTBON'S  Dream. 

They  temper  love  and  books  together.          SWIFT. 

All  my  nature  changed — his  being 

Seemed  the  only  source  of  mine — 

Fond  heart,  hadst  thou  no  foreseeing, 

Thy  sad  future  to  divine?  LAITDON. 

IN  the  vernal  months  that  succeeded,  free  and  unre- 
stricted intercourse,  in  their  sylvan  retreat,  tended  to  the 
maturity  of  that  passion  whose  first  unfoldings  we  have 
seen,  until  every  fiber  of  Florence's  being  thrilled  beneath 
its  giant  sway.  Former  joys  were  as  naught  in  comparison 
with  the  intensity  of  happiness — the  delirium  of  pleasure, 
in  which  her  soul  luxuriated.  Every  object  unconnected 
with  it,  was  submerged  in  Lethe's  waves.  The  home  of 
her  childhood — her  idolizing  father — the  tender  brother  of 
her  youth,  but  devoted  lover  of  her  girlhood,  all  were  for- 
gotten in  the  new  existence  that  had  dawned  upon  her. 

The  revulsion  in  her  feelings  had  been  truly  wondrous ! 


60  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

At  first  she  had  regarded  the  pastor  with  ill-concealed 
feelings  of  dislike — almost  abhorrence  ;  then  contempt  suc- 
ceeded— a  contempt  which  knew  no  bounds,  because  of  his 
having  flung  away  brilliant  talents  upon  a  worthless  and 
despised  profession,  instead  of  being  lifted  up  by  them,  as 
upon  "  eagles'  wings,"  to  the  lofty  places  of  earth  ;  then, 
despite  her  prejudices,  there  was  a  constantly  increasing 
respect,  as  the  symmetrical  proportions  of  his  character 
became  more  and  better  known,  until  at  length,  by  slow 
degrees,  it  stood  forth  before  her  unclouded  vision  in  the 
undimmed  luster  of  its  native  excellency,  rendered  even  yet 
more  dazzling  by  the  absence  of  that  very  ambition  for 
which  it  was  once  despised,  and  she  bowed  before  it  in 
deepest  adoration.  He  presented  the  rare  anomaly,  one 
conscious  of  giant  powers,  yet  flinging  aside  with  sublime 
indifference,  the  laurel  wreath  that  fain  would  have  bound 
his  brow. 

Would  that  we  might  linger,  Florence,  on  this  the  most 
brilliant  page  of  thy  }7oung  life!  Above  thee  are  skies  roseate 
with  the  hues  of  love;  beneath  and  around  thee  are  flowers 
of  more  than  tropic  beauty,  and  strains  of  ^Eolian  sweetness 
fill  thy  soul  with  music  ;  but  Time — relentless  Time,  surges 
onward,  and  none  may  stay  his  course. 

Contrary  to  the  popular  opinion  on  the  subject,  the  birth 
of  this  new  passion  did  not  retard  the  onward  progress  in 
her  studies.  So  far  from  it,  it  was  an  all-powerful  incentive 
to  further  advancement ;  for,  as  he  stood  peerless  above  all 
others,  even  so  must  she  exert  herself  to  attain  a 
like  supremacy  over  her  sex  ;  and  love,  mingling  with  the 
draught,  sweetened  it,  until  it  became  like  unto  ambrosial 
nectar. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  61 

To  be  sure,  it  was  a  science  not  found  in  Mrs.  Ormond's 
catalogue,  and  of  which  the  rest  of  us  remained  in  total 
ignorance  during  her  guardianship  over  us,  and  of  which 
she  would  have  been  horrified  at  the  idea  of  being  taught 

D  O 

in  her  institution ;  but  it  was  most  certain  that  in  this,  as 
in  all  others,  Florence  made  rapid  advancement. 

Florence  was  now  in  the  dawn  of  womanhood,  and  from 
the  period  when  she  had  ceased  to  be  an  invalid,  the 
attempt  to  add  to  her  beauty  would  have  seemed  vain  as 
that  of  "  painting  the  lily  :"  but  there  is  an  artist,  whose 
magic  touch  almost  transforms  deformity  itself — shedding 
a  softening  and  beautifying  luster  over  the  most  uncouth 
features,  and  he,  with  daring  hand,  had  retouched  those 
faultless  features,  and  perfected  the  coup-d'ceil.  Hers  was  a 
most  living,  thrilling  beauty  ! 

And  there  was  one,  (strange  that  no  thought  of  him 
crossed  her  memory  with  a  pang!)  who,  could  his  glance 
have  pierced  the  intervening  space  between  them,  and 
beheld  those  meetings  in  the  grove — the  brilliant  smile  with 
which  she  welcomed  the  pastor  to  her  presence — her  rap- 
turous attention  to  his  slightest  tone — have  seen  them 
seated  side  by  side  bending  over  the  same  volume,  his  heart 
had  been  wrung  at  scenes  so  fraught  with  destruction  to 
his  future  happiness  —  he,  who  was  disposed  to  regard 
with  a  jealous  eye,  the  faintest  smile,  or  most  trivial  atten- 
tion, bestowed  by  his  idol  on  another.  And  here  was 
cause  for  the  most  violent  alarm — the  most  deep-seated 
agony  ;  for  to  one  skilled  in  the  science  of  love,  there  was 
no  mistaking  Florence's  glance — it  spoke  volumes  ;  telling 
of  a  passion  deep,  fervid  and  abiding  as  his  own,  but  oh 
misery !  it  rested  on  another,  and  not  upon  him.  And  he 


62  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

who  had  all  unconsciously  stepped  between  him  and  hap- 
piness, and  caused  the  heart  bound  to  his  by  adamantine 
ties  to  swerve  from  its  allegiance,  was  a  rival  not  to  be 
despised — albeit  his  lowly  position  in  life. 

But  the  youth  was  traveling  in  far  distant  lands,  in  bliss- 
ful ignorance  that  she,  so  long  and  passionately  beloved, 
was  all  forgetful  of  their  youthful  vows,  and  of  the  "  sweet 
siren  song"  of  love,  he  had  breathed  into  her  virgin  soul. 

With  rapid  pace  he  journeyed  on,  seeking  only  to  pass 
the  weary  probation,  until  they  should  be  reunited — gazing 
upon  the  lovely  scenes  of  that  Arcadian  land — upon  the 
majestic  ruins  eloquent  of  the  grandeur  and  glory  of  a 
buried  age,  with  a  cold,  abstracted  glance ;  she  was  not 
there  to  be  charmed  by  them,  therefore  they  were  to  him 
as  the  sterile  waste,  in  which  there  is  no  beauty  or  attrac- 
tion. If  for  a  moment  his  regard  was  fixed  upon  the  dark- 
eyed  maidens  of  those  sunny  skies,  whose  beauty  the 
prince  of  poets  tells  us  "  even  a  cynic  must  avow,"  it  was 
but  to  contrast  them  with  that  of  the  loved  image,  resting 
in  its  golden  case,  upon  his  bosom,  to  prove  how  far  it  ex- 
celled all  others. 

All  ties  of  kindredship  having  been  severed  at  a  very  ten- 
der age — Henry  Soule,  on  becoming  domesticated  in  Mr. 
De  Lisle's  family,  naturally  clung  with  a  most  filial  affection 
to  him,  who  was  indeed  a  father  unto  him.  As  the  ward 
of  her  father  he  had  been  reared,  almost  from  her  very 
infancy,  with  Florence  ;  and  his  regard  for  her,  the  sole 
companion  of  his  youth,  assumed  a  far  more  tender  and 
deeper  tone,  than  that  for  their  mutual  father,  and  through- 
out the  progressive  stages  of  life,  from  youth  to  manhood, 
it  had  grown  with  his  growth — strengthening  with  his 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  63 

strength,  until  his  existence  had  become  merged  into  hers — 
life  was  a  blessing  only  that  she  lived. 

When  Florence's  continued  ill  health  demanded  her 
removal  north,  and  preparations  for  it  were  accordingly 
being  made,  it  seemed  to  him  as  though  the  sun  were  about 
to  be  stricken  from  his  heavens,  and  he,  encompassed  with 
darkness — deep,  unfathomable  darkness. 

His  terrible  depression  of  spirits — his  violent  reluctance 
to  a  separation  from  her  was  the  source  of  extreme  pain  to 
Florence,  and  it  was  as  the  sweet  comforter  of  his  sorrows 
that  she  became  almost  unconsciously  engaged  to  him. 

They  were  standing  on  the  balcony  the  evening  before 
she  left  home,  her  hands  clasped  convulsively  within  his — 
and  he,  in  strong  and  anguished  terms,  mourned  the  neces- 
sity which  separated  them.  A  deeper  sense  of  loneliness 
and  isolation  oppressed  him,  he  said,  than  when  in  his  child- 
hood they  told  him  his  father  and  last  earthly  friend  was 
lost  evermore  to  him. 

Florence  burst  into  a  wild  flood  of  tears,  and  as  in  all 
the  troubles  of  her  childhood  she  had  done,  buried  her  face 
in  his  bosom,  murmuring,  "  But  I  will  return  again,  Harry, 
and  " 

"  Then  we  will  part  no  more  on  earth,  dearest;  say  will 
it  not  be  so,  my  Florence  ?"  He  bent  over  her  with  an 
expression  in  which  the  varied  passions  of  love,  despair, 
hope  and  fear  were  confusedly  blended.  Without  a  mo- 
ment's hesitancy  she  replied,  "  Yes,  oh  !  yes,  a  short  time 
and  I  will  return  to  you,  never  to  part  from  you  more. 
Whom  have  I  to  love  but  you  and  my  father  ?  or  where 
could  I  find  a  place  so  dear  as  this,  the  home  of  our 
childhood?" 


64  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

The  sudden  clearing  of  his  countenance  was  as  the  burst- 

O 

ing  forth  of  the  glorious  god  of  day  from  the  dark  and 
murky  clouds  which  threatened  to  shut  out  his  brightness 
forever ;  and  clasping  her  long  and  rapturously  to  his 
bosom,  he  imprinted  upon  her  brow  the  first  kiss  of  love, 
and  breathed  into  her  ear  its  burning  vows. 

Thrice  happy  was  Florence  in  being  able  to  remove  the 
load  of  anguish  from  his  breast;  nor  thought  she  of  the  possi- 
bility that  the  means  used  to  effect  it,  might  cause  it  to  recoil, 
all  crushingly,  upon  her  own  warm,  generous  heart.  She 
sought  only  to  restore  the  light  of  happiness  to  one  whose 
multitudinous  acts  of  kindness  had  placed  her  under  deep 
and  lasting  obligations.  Now  on  the  eve  of  a  first  separa- 
tion, a  host  of  memories  connected  with  him  came  rushing 
over  her — his  gentleness  and  forbearance  in  the  fretfulness 
of  her  invalid  childhood — his  efforts  to  amuse  her,  and  lull 
her  into  forgetfulness  of  pain — his  tender  affection,  mani- 
fested in  every  word  and  act ;  all  came  vividly  to  her  and 
called  forth  her  most  earnest  gratitude. 

One  so  young  as  she  could  have  but  very  imperfect  con- 
ceptions of  the  nature  and  requirements  of  the  vow  thus 
rashly  taken,  a  vow  regarded  in  the  sight  of  God  and  man 
as  second  only  in  sacredness  to  the  nuptial  one.  Bereft  of 
a  mother,  there  was  none  to  warn  her  of  the  fearful  sacri- 
fice of  happiness  its  fulfillment  might  occasion,  or  to  ex- 
plain how  all  incapable  a  maiden  of  fifteen  was  to  decide  a 
point  of  which  the  whole  future  was  the  stake. 

She  did  not  do  as  one  might,  perhaps,  who  had  num- 
bered more  years,  or  been  reared  wiih  less  tenderness,  con- 
trast her  affection  with  the  ardent,  fervent  character  of  that 
just  professed  for  her,  and  learn  thereby  that  it  was  com- 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  65 

paratively  but  as  the  "  small  dust  in  the  balance."  The 
voice  of  adulation  had  ever  sounded  in  her  ear,  and  a 
homage  been  accorded  her,  unsurpassed  by  Eastern  devo- 
teeism,  until  devotion  seemed  to  her  but  a  due.  Therefore 
she  received  Henry's  profession  of  regard  as  that  to  which 
she  was  justly  entitled;  ignorant  meanwhile,  of  her  inability 
to  respond  to  it  as  fervently  as  it  demanded. 

If  the  sunshine  of  love  in  which  she  had  ever  dwelt,  had 
not  incrusted  her  heart  with  selfishness,  it  had  destroyed, 
in  a  measure,  that  fine  appreciation  for  the  esteem  of 
others,  which  those  born  under  less  genial  skies  possess  ; 
and  had  not  another  crossed  her  path,  her  feelings  for 
him  would  have  undergone  no  change.  "  He  was  even  as 
a  brother — but  no  more."  Though  of  a  nature  truly 
noble  and  excellent,  his  intellect  was  of  a  mediocre  quality, 
and  it  was  not  virtues  alone,  which  could  command  the 
love  of  one  so  loftily  aspiring  as  she.  Even  in  their 
childhood  she  had  felt  the  dearth,  the  void,  the  lack  of 
something  in  him,  she  knew  not  what,  which  prevented  the 
entire  and  perfect  harmonizing  of  her  spirit  with  his.  It 
was  genius,  combined  with  manly  virtues,  which  could 
alone  call  forth  the  highest  homage  of  such  a  heart — could 
alone  wake  all  its  slumbering  chords  into  melody  and  life. 

Vows  so  thoughtlessly  spoken,  and  at  an  age  so  early  in 
the  development  of  that  kind  of  heart-knowledge  to  which 
they  had  reference,  had  long  since  passed  from  her  me- 
mory ;  and  she  would  have  been  petrified  with  astonish- 
ment, to  have  known  of  the  splendid  superstructure  of 
happiness,  and  worldly  grandeur,  her  lover  and  father 
were  rearing  in  anticipation  on  so  frail  a  foundation. 

Neither  had  correspondence  kept  the  memory  of  his 
G 


66  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

love,  and  the  tie  that  bound  them,  fresh  and  green  in  her 
soul ;  for  her  father,  guarding  against  every  cause  which 
would  tend  to  unfit  her  for  the  arduous  duties  before  her, 
had  interdicted  it. 

He  had  witnessed  with  peculiar  satisfaction,  the  tender- 
ness of  their  parting,  and  shortsighted  as  was  the  fabled 
matron,  he  imagined  his  child  had  undergone  an  immersion 
which  would  render  her  forever  invulnerable  to  any 
wandering  or  stray  shaft  of  Cupid's.  But  had  it  even 
been  otherwise,  he  would  have  seen  no  peril  in  her  present 
situation.  It  would  have  been  impossible  for  him  to  con- 
ceive that  the  proud  and  haughty  scion,  of  his  proud, 
haughty,  and  ambitious  race — she,  who  had  been  taught  to 
regard  wealth  and  standing  in  society,  as  life's  great 
desideratum,  would  regard  other  than  as  an  insult,  a  prof- 
fered alliance  with  an  obscure  and  indigent  minister. 

But  not  a  particle  had  the  heart  of  Florence  Delisle 
abated  of  its  pz-ide — on  the  contrary,  it  swelled  with  an 
augmented  force,  since  having  found  an  object  so  pre-emi- 
nently worthy  of  its  adoration. 

Oh  !  Love,  Love !  thou  coverest  with  thy  rosy  mantle,  all 
defects  and  deformities — even  vice  too  frequently  shields 
its  "  frightful  mien"  within  thy  graceful  folds.  Thou  art 
the  true  Magician  whose  alchemy  transmutes  all  metals 
into  gold.  Thou  art  a  magician  too,  of  all  time;  for  thy 
potent  spells  began  even  in  creation's  dawn,  and  man  in  all 
succeeding  generations  has  bowed  to  their  might. 

In  thy  two-fold  capacity  of  conferring  "bliss  immeasur- 
able," or  "woe  unutterable,"  on  all  who  own  thy  sway, 
thou,  above  all  the  passions  of  the  human  soul,  art  most 
to  be  feared  !  How  beautiful  thou  art,  when  thy  course  is 


EARLY   ENGAGEMENTS.  67 

edged  with  the  full  blown  flower  and  graceful  bud — when 
thou  bearest  upon  thy  bosom  the  odorous  breeze,  and  the 
melody  of  joy  goes  up  from  out  thy  crystal  depths.  How 
drear  thou  art,  when  those  sparkling  wavelets  stagnate  into 
the  slimy  pool,  in  which  the  noisome  reptile  nurtures  its 
hateful  brood,  and  thy  pestilential  breath  sweeps  through  the 
poisonous  shrub,  and  deadly  nightshade  of  thy  borders. 

Florence  had  clambered  up  a  dizzy  height,  and  basking 
in  the  full  meridian  splendor  of  Love's  rays,  saw  not  the 
precipice  on  which  she  stood — the  betrothed  bride  of  one, 
yet  loving  with  a  deathless  devotion,  another!  Long  ere  she 
was  cognizant  of  the  fact,  her  proud  heart  had  passed  from 
her  control,  and  he,  who  was  once  the  object  of  its  scorn 
and  derision,  was  become  the  master  spirit  of  its  destiny. 


68  EAKLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Lore's  hoary  flame  forever  burneth; 

From  heaven  it  came,  to  heaven  returaeth; 

Too  oft  on  earth  a  troubled  guest, 

At  times  deceived,  at  times  opprest, 

It  here  is  tried  and  purified, 

Then  hath  in  heaven  its  perfect  rest.       SOUTUET. 

THE  second  year  of  Florence's  residence  in  S vale, 

had  drawn  to  a  close.  Her  father  was  prevented  paying 
his  promised  annual  visit,  by  a  long  and  severe  attack  of 
illness ;  and  the  still  precarious  state  of  his  health  rendered 
it  uncertain  whether  he  durst  leave  home  through  the 
summer.  A  year  before,  and  the  disappointment  would 
have  been  most  grievous — but  now  Florence  congratulated 
herself  on  her  extreme  composure  and  resignation  to  it. 

Mrs.  Ormond  yielded  to  our  earnest  solicitations  that  the 
approaching  anniversary  of  her  "birth  should  be  kept  as  a 
gala- day — devoted  entirely  to  recreation  and  mirth  ;  and 
that  the  evening  should  terminate  with  a  reunion  in  her 
drawing-rooms,  of  the  "  upper -tendom"  of  her  household, 
and  the  few  inhabitants  of  the  valley,  with  whom  her 
arduous  vocation  permitted  her  to  exchange  the  courtesies 
of  society.  Guests  from  the  city  also,  were  expected — the 
brothers  and  cousins,  male  and  female  of  her  present 
pupils  who  resided  there ;  and  a  number  of  her  former 
pupils,  would  also  avail  themselves  of  the  opportunity  to 
revisit  their  old  academic  halls. 

In  order  that  instruction  might  be  blended  with  amuse- 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  69 

ment,  we  were  all  directed,  for  the  evening's  entertainment, 
to  select  from  the  world  of  literature,  some  celebrated  char- 
acter to  personate  —  or  to  represent  an  inhabitant  of  a 
foreign  land — to  dress  in  the  exact  costume  of  the  times 
and  country,  and  to  inform  ourselves  according  to  the 
character  personated,  with  the  most  striking  points  of 
history,  the  government,  manners,  customs,  scenery,  and 
society.  Elevated  and  instructive  topics  of  conversation 
would  thus  be  afforded  ;  and  the  mass  of  knowledge  requi- 
site to  enable  each  to  enact  her  part,  would  prove  a  valu- 
able acquisition. 

As  a  matter  of  course,  she  whose  delineation  was  most 
perfect — who  could  invest  the  character  of  her  adoption 
with  the  greatest  charms,  would  most  largely  contribute  to 
the  amusement  of  the  evening. 

"Have  you  decided  upon  the  character  you  will  assume, 
Miss  De  Lisle?"  said  Eleanora  Howard,  some  few  weeks  pre- 
vious to  the  soiree.  She  was  one  of  the  small  number, 
whom  Florence's  recent  efforts  to  be  gracious  to,  had  not 
overcome  the  remembrance  of  her  early  hauteur  and  over- 
bearance. 

"  I  have  not,"  was  the  laconic  reply. 

"Indeed!  you  amaze  me!  I  presumed  Agrippina,  whose 
hauteur  and  pride  you  so  much  affect,  would  have  fur- 
nished you  at  once  with  a  model." 

"And  you,  doubtless,"  said  Florence,  her  eyes  flashing 
with  indignant  scorn  at  this  unanticipated  sarcasm,  "  you 
would  be  willing  to  personate  the  odious  Livia,  were  you 
thereby  enabled  to  debase  me  to  the  dust  as  she,  her 
wretched  victim." 

This  cutting  retort  had  scarce  passed  her  lips,  ere  the 


70  EARLT  ENGAGEMENTS. 

thought  of  the  pastor's  condemnation  of  it  brought  terroi 
to  her ;  and  turning-  round  suddenly,  she  expected  to  en- 
counter a  glance,  stern  and  reproachful  as  that  which  had 
once  sent  such  a  chill  upon  her  heart.  He  was  not  there, 
however,  and  the  sense  of  relief  overcame  her  recent 
indignation. 

It  was  not  in  the  dignified  robes  of  the  Roman  ma- 
tron that  Florence  appeared  at  Mrs.  Ormond's  levee, 
but  in  the  more  graceful  style  of  modern  Italy.  That  she 
looked  surpassingly  lovely,  the  scowl  of  envy  that  lowered 
on  the  brow  of  her  who  had  previously  taunted  her,  as  well 
as  the  undisguised  admiration  of  her  friends,  testified. 

Her  costume  was  as  beautiful  as  her  own  exquisite  taste 
and  unlimited  means  could  make  it,  and  was  arranged  with 
an  elaborate  care  and  elegance,  as  though  it  were  to  meet 
the  eyes  of  the  refined  critics  of  Almack's — but  there  was 
one  whose  gaze  must  rest  upon  it,  before  whom,  theirs  shrank 
into  insignificance.  He  had  never  seen  her  in  other  than 
the  simple  toilet  of  a  school-girl ;  but  that  night  she  would 
appear  before  him,  her  superior  charms  heightened  by  the 
adventitious  aid  of  dress,  "  and  test,"  said  she,  with  a  half 
scornful  smile,  "  the  falsity  of  that  oft-quoted  motto  of 
Thomson's  : 

'Beauty,  when  unadorned,  's  adorned  the  most." " 

There  lingered  in  her  bosom  a  kind  of  Semiramis  wish — 
a  wish,  in  order  that  the  pastor  might  witness  the  full 
power  of  her  fascinations,  to  reign  the  acknowledged  Queen 
of  the  Festival. 

Her  wish  was  gratified — her  triumph' complete — her  un- 
surpassed powers  of  pleasing,  and  magnificent  beauty, 
effected  the  desired  object. 


EARLT  ENGAGEMENTS.  71 

Mucli  of  her  triumph  was  undoubtedly  owing  to  the 
admirable  adaptation  of  her  style  of  beauty  to  the  character 
she  represented.  As  she  stood  leaning  on  the  harp,  sing- 
ing with  an  accent  as  pure  as  a  native's,  one  of  Italia's 
sweetest  melodies,  her  dark  eyes  flashing  with  the  pleasur- 
able emotions  of  the  occasion — her  cheeks  dyed  with  the 
warmest  and  richest  of  hues — she  seemed  the  very  incar- 
nation of  the  daughters  of  those  cloudless  skies. 

The  pastor  stood  at  a  remote  distance  from  her;  yet 
were  intervening  sights  and  sounds  lost  to  him — his  visual 
and  auditory  organs  were  concentered  on  the  radiant  song- 
stress. 

"  Mr.  Neville  seems  completely  spell-bound  by  Miss 
DeLisle's  fascinations,"  said  a  laughing  voice  near  him,  and 
the  sound  of  his  name  recalled  his  attention.  "  Nor  can 
one  be  surprised  at  it — there  are  few  who  can  resist  their 
power  !  I  have  often  thought  of  their  resemblance  to 
those  of  the  rattlesnake  —  once  within  their  influence,  no 
struggle  can  free  one — they  are  bound,  irresistibly  bound." 

"  Miss  De  Lisle  would  certainly  feel  very  highly  compli- 
mented by  your  simile,"  replied  Eleanora  Howard,  in  her 
usual  tone  of  irony.  The  splendid  triumph  of  Florence  had 
kindled  into  a  fresher  glow  the  feelings  of  envy  and  hatred 
which  burned  in  her  bosom  ;  but  by  far  the  most  aggrava- 
ting circumstance  of  the  evening  was  her  own  brother's 
complete  abandonment  to  the  charms  of  the  beautiful 
southerner — he  had  scarce  left  her  side  since  the  moment 
of  his  introduction. 

"I  am  surprised,"  she  continued,  "that  you  should 
think  one  of  Mr.  Neville's  superior  insight  of  character, 


72  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

could  become  infatuated  with  so  shallow  a  compound  of 
pride,  arrogance  and  presumption." 

"  And  yet  with  all  due  deference  to  those  remarkable 
powers,  he  is,  nevertheless,  most  hopelessly  in  love  with 
her,  whom  you  are  pleased  to  term  a  '  compound  of  arro- 
gance and  presumption,'  "  said  Helen  Bourne  ;  "  and  this 
is  so  apparent,  that  all,  not  willfully  blind,  must  see  it." 

"  Impossible  !  It  is  not  in  his  nature  to  love  such  a 
creature.  A  beautiful  wife,  truly,  she  would  make  for  a 
minister  of  the  gospel — she  who  admits  of  no  superiors, 
and  few  equals — she  would  spurn  from  her  presence  the 
humble  individuals  who  form  so  large  a  portion  of  his 
society." 

The  pastor  hastened  from  his  locality  near  them — unwil- 
ling to  be  a  further  listener  to  a  conversation  evidently  not 
for  his  ear.  Enough  had  been  uttered,  however,  to  remove 
the  fast  gathering  films  that  obscured  his  mental  vision ; 
and  so  ruthlessly  had  they  been  torn  away,  that  drops  of 
bitter  agony  started  forth  from  the  wounds. 

He  stepped  forth  into  the  night's  solitude  to  recover 
his  lost  self-possession,  and  the  darkness  hid  a  counte- 
nance which  was,  of  a  verity,  "a  tablet  of  unutterable 
thoughts." 

With  a  perturbed  mind  he  paced  back  and  forth  the 
portico.  At  length  a  sudden  burst  of  merriment  within 
the  gay  and  brilliant  apartments,  reminded  him  that  this 
was  neither  the  time  nor  place  for  the  minute  and  searching 
investigation  into  the  state  of  his  feelings,  which  recent 
developments  rendered  necessary.  .Passing  his  hands 
heavily  over  his  face,  as  though  to  drive  from  it  the  dark 


EARLY   ENGAGEMENTS.  73 

clouds  that  crushed  out  its  sunshine,  with  a  forced  smile, 
he  re-entered  the  rooms. 

He  did  not  again  seek  Florence's  side ;  but  she  was  con- 
stantly flitting  before  him  as  a  vision  of  light,  and  her 
sparkling  wit  and  lively  repartee  were  ringing  in  his  ears  ; 
and  each  moment  deepened  his  conviction  of  her  powerful 
ascendency  over  him. 

That  night  the  pastor  sat  alone  in  his  studio  far  past  its 
noon.  The  shaded  rays  of  the  lamp  fell  upon  a  brow  cor- 
rugated into  deep  furrows  by  intense  and  painful  thought. 
With  a  strong  hand  he  forced  the  probe  into  the  profoundest 
depths  of  his  soul,  and  learned  with  deep  humiliation  and 
contrition  of  spirit  that  his  heart  had  been  worshiping  all 
too  fervently  at  an  earthly  shrine,  and  had  wandered  far 
away  from  Him,  to  whom  its  deepest  reverence  was  due. 

"How  powerful  the  narcotic  which  has  steeped  my 
senses.  The  pleasure  with  which  I  sought  her  society  and 
received  her  greetings,  or  listened  to  her  chidings  at  my 
delays,  should  have  aroused  me  to  a  sense  of  my  danger; 
but  more  than  all,  when  I  found  her  presence  attending  me 
whithersoever  I  went — mingling  in  my  dreams — aye,"  con- 
tinued he,  with  a  deep  sigh,  "  even  forcing  itself  amid 
my  prayers,  I  should  have  been  warned  of  my  peril." 

The  young  pastor  bowed  his  form  in  earnest  supplication, 
that  the  Divine  spirit  of  Peace  might  step  forth  upon  the 
troubled  waters  of  his  soul  and  command  them  "  to  be 
still,"  and  his  brow  gradually  resumed  to  its  usual  calmness 
and  placidity  and  sleep  infolded  him  in  its  gentle  embrace. 

Deep  as  were  his  self-upbraidings  for  his  supposed  par- 
tial apostasy,  the  "  love  for  the  creature,"  had  not  sup- 
planted that  "  for  the  Creator," — but  mingling  with  it, 


74  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

strengthened  the  ties,  and  drew  him  yet  nearer  to  his 
heavenly  Master.  And  this  is  no  anomaly,  since  "  LOVE  is 
the  word,  the  king  of  words  carved  on  Jehovah's  heart;" 
and  that  which  irradiates  the  gloom  of  this  world  of  sin, 
is  but  the  far-off  reflection  of  that  whose  emanation  is  from 
a  source  divine. 

Duty  demanded  immediate  efforts  to  overcome  his  unfor- 
tunate passion  ;  or  at  least  to  reduce  its  ardor  to  that  with 
which  a  brother  might  regard  a  sister — or  a  pastor  a  tender 
lamb  of  his  flock.  To  effect  this,  future  avoidance  of  her 
society  seemed  the  most  certain  means. 

It  was  not  that  the  pastor  regarded  Florence  as  unworthy 
the  first  place  in  his  earthly  affections,  for  the  clouds  that 
mingled  with  her  reflection  in  his  soul,  were  light  and 
fleeting — or  that  the  bitter  invectives  he  had  heard  coupled 
with  her  name,  had  aught  of  power  to  prejudice  him 
against  her ;  in  them  he  recognized  the  bubblings  of  the 
vile  spirit  of  envy.  Indeed,  in  the  present  state  of  his 
feelings  he  would  have  thought  the  heart  most  exacting 
which  would  demand  greater  perfection  of  its  idol ;  for 
Florence  was  a  much  more  gentle  and  better  being  in  his 
presence,  than  when  removed  from  it.  Though  she  had 
sought  to  remodel  her  character,  there  still  existed  many 
gross  imperfections  of  which  he  was  unaware  ;  for  when 
with  him  there  were  no  temptations  to  test  her  good  resolu- 
tions ;  but  an  atmosphere  of  holiness  surrounded  him, 
which  subdued,  with  a  soft,  insensible  control,  all  evil 
passions — the  profane  jests  of  those,  hardened  by  years  of 
sin,  were  hushed  in  his  presence — the  .angered  brow  was 
smoothed  at  his  approach — and  fierce  contentions  ceased. 

He  felt  that  his  lowly  home  was  all  unsuited  to  one  bred 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  75 

in  wealth's  aristocratic  halls;  for  could  he  even  hope  to 
secure  a  return  of  his  affection,  there  was  no  possibility 
that  one  thus  reared  would  be  content  with  the  plain  and 
simple  style  of  living  which  he  alone  had  to  offer.  Thou 
Mammon !  thou  who  wast  once  a  god  of  the  Syrians, 
how  now  art  thou  become  a  universal  one  !  It  was  he  who 
interposed  barriers  to  their  union ;  and  the  pastor  bowed  in 
resignation  to  his  destiny. 

He  had  witnessed  with  an  eye  of  love  the  fair  unfolding 
of  that  glorious  mind — he  had  inhaled  the  fragrance  of  the 
opening  flower ;  but  another  would  enjoy  the  wealth  of  its 
perfect  bloom.  Henceforth  the  pleasant  ministrations  to 
her  mental  and  moral  wants  must  cease,  save  in  a  general 
form — and  the  sigh,  wrung  from  his  suffering  spirit,  com- 
mingled, all  discordantly,  with  nature's  tones  of  joy  which 
went  breathing  up  from  plant,  and  tree,  and  La  Belle 
Riviere  on  that  balmy  summer's  evening.  It  was  the  hour 
he  usually  spent  in  their  "  studio" — yet  the  pastor  sat  alone 
within  his  vine-wreathed  portico — his  footsteps  stayed  by 
the  firm  conviction  of  duty. 

Contrary  to  the  order  of  nature,  for  the  year  had  passed 
its  meridian  and  was  fast  declining,  the  days,  to  one  indi- 
vidual in  the  lovely  vale  of  S ,  seemed  to  have  length- 
ened—  even  into  those  of  an  Icelandic  summer.  The 
pastor  struggled  to  subdue  his  unfortunate  attachment; 
but  there  were  times  when  he  grew  faint,  and  the  combat 
seemed  a  hopeless  one. 

Though  there  had  been  a  termination  to  his  private 
instructions  he  could  not  at  all  times  avoid  Florence,  with- 
out positive  rudeness — a  thing  utterly  inconsistent  with  his 
nature — for  his  was  that  native  politeness,  indigenous  to 


76  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

the  soul  in  which  the  Christian  graces  flourish.  Especially 
at  the  evening's  benediction  they  were  together;  and 
though  no  words  were  spoken  between  them,  he  felt  that 
she  was  near — and  there  was  happiness  in  the  thought. 

A  deeper  melancholy  enshrouded  him  as  the  hours  drew 
near  which  he  had  been  accustomed  to  pass  with  her.  As 
drear  the  contrast  of  the  present  ones,  as  between  "  those 
golden  hours  on  angel  wings"  that  had  flown  o'er  the  Scot- 
tish bard  (afterward  so  sweetly  mourned  by  him)  and  the 
death-darkened  days  that  succeeded  them. 

It  was  at  such  an  hour,  and  from  a  reverie  of  unusual 
gloom,  that  he  aroused  himself,  and  in  a  firm,  decided 
tone,  exclaimed:  "  This  must  not  be — I  will  no  longer  suc- 
cumb to  such  weakness.  It  unfits  me  for  every  duty." 

Strong  in  this  wise  determination,  he  went  forth  to  visit 
an  aged  female  parishioner,  who  was  lying  very  low  of  a 
fever. 

The  pathway  led  through  a  wilderness  of  natural  beauty, 
and  singularly  enough  it  was  that  so  ardent  a  lover  of 
Nature  saw  not  its  charms.  Had  it  been  covered  with  im- 
penetrable darkness  they  could  not  have  been  more  effectu- 
ally lost  to  the  pastor.  Once  only  he  paused  in  his  route 
to  gaze  around — it  was  at  the  cascade — and  in  the  tumultu- 
ous agitation  of  its  waters  he  saw  a  close  similitude  to  that 
(despite  all  efforts)  of  his  own  bosom. 

There  were  flowers  lying  near  its  margin — fresh  as 
though  recently  plucked  from  the  parent  stem.  He  stooped 
to  pick  them  up,  and  the  gloomy  current  of  his  thoughts 
was  somewhat  changed.  As  he  pursued  his  course,  with 
eyes  bent  to  the  greensward,  from  time  to  time  he  descried 
a  fugitive  bud,  or  full-blown  flower  in  the  pathway.  A 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  77 

voice  too  arrested  his  footsteps — a  voice  whose  sweetly- 
familiar  tones  thrilled  through  his  being ;  and  looking  up, 
he  beheld  Florence  at  a  short  distance  from  him. 

There  were  several  large  stones,  all  cushioned  over  with 
a  growth  of  dark,  richly-colored  moss,  lying  near  the 
stream,  and  from  a  rude  resemblance  had  been  fancifully 
termed  the  "  arm-chair."  This  had  always  been  a  favorite 
resort  of  the  pastor's,  for  here  the  incomparable  scenery 
of  the  valley  was  seen  to  its  greatest  advantage. 

Florence  was  seated  here,  alone — her  lap  filled  with 
flowers,  which  with  rapid,  fingers  she  was  twining  into  a 
wreath.  Pleasant  thoughts  were  flitting  over  her  blooming 
face,  like  butterflies  over  beds  of  roses. 

"  There  are  some,"  said  she,  her  thoughts  unconsciously 
weaving  themselves  into  speech,  "  who  say,  that  one  flower 
is  coarse — another  common — and  that  there  is  no  beauty  in 
a  third.  But  to  me  all  flowers  are  beautiful — aye,  so  very 
beautiful ;"  and  she  paused  in  her  work  to  gaze  rapturously 
upon  their  glowing  petals  —  "how  far,  far  beyond  the 
rivalry  of  human  skill." 

Sentiments  so  congenial  found  a  deep  and  fervent  re- 
sponse in  the  pastor's  breast ;  it  was  as  though  she  were 
giving  utterance  to  his  own  thoughts. 

He  paused  irresolutely — inclination  prompted  him  to 
hasten  to  her  side,  and  duty  imperatively  forbade  it;  yet 
there  seemed  no  possibility  of  his  being  able  to  retrace  his 
steps  down  the  hillside  without  attracting  her  attention, 
and  consequently  awakening  her  curiosity  to  ascertain  the 
cause  of  so  singular  a  proceeding.  There  seemed  no 
course  left  but  to  continue  onward — pausing  briefly  to 


78  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

exchange  the  commonplace  congratulations,  and  then  to 
pass  on  to  the  widow's  cottage. 

Deeply  absorbed  in  her  own  delicious  thoughts  and 
beautiful  employment,  he  stood  by  her  side  ere  she  was 
aware  of  his  approach.  The  flowers  were  dashed  to  the 
earth,  as  she  arose  with,  an  exclamation  of  joyful  surprise 
at  his  unexpected  appearance. 

The  very  consciousness  of  being  alone  with  her  caused 
a  degree  of  embarrassment  never  before  experienced  in  her 
society ;  for  since  their  last  interview  of  that  kind,  lie  had 
partaken  of  the  fruit  of  the  wondrously  gifted  tree,  and 
his  eyes  were  now  opened  to  the  "true  nature  of  his  senti- 
ments for  her.  Even  thought  seemed  to  desert  him — he 
knew  not  how  to  address  her.  Fortunately  his  glance 
rested  on  the  fallen  flowers,  and  they  afforded  a  topic  with 
which  to  relieve  the  embarrassing  silence. 

Pointing  to  them  he  said:  "See,  you  are  crushing  your 
flowers  beneath  your  feet ;  a  sacrilege  of  which  a  moment 
since  I  thought  it  impossible  for  you  to  be  guilty,  so  rap- 
turously enthusiastic  were  you  in  their  praise.  The  lasjj 
flowers  of  Summer;"  said  he,  restoring  them  to  her,  "  how 
gorgeously  beautiful!" 

"Burning  with  kisses  just  caught  from  the  sun," 

said  Florence,  finishing  his  eulogy  upon  them.  "And  you 
too,  it  seems,  have  been  flower  gathering.  But  where  did 
you  find  your  flowers  ?  I  thought  I  had  rifled  the  high- 
ways and  byways  of  all  their  treasures." 

"  I  have  been  but  a  gleaner  in  your  path ;  picking  up 
those  lost  from  your  abundance." 


EAKLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  79 

"  Then,"  said  she,  her  sweet  ringing  laugh  accompany- 
ing the  joyous  tones  of  the  streamlet  down  into  the  vale ; 
"I  have  literally  strewn  your  pathway  with  flowers ;  not  figu- 
ratively so,  I  can  scarce  hope ;  or  why  have  your  visits  to 
our  '  studio '  been  discontinued  ?  Were  you  not  a  self-con- 
stituted Mentor?  How  shameful,  then,  of  you  to  desert 
me,  after  having  taught  me  the  value  of  your  services." 

"Florence,"  said  he,  so  gravely,  that  she  started  in  sur- 
prise ;  "my  instructions  were  continued  long  after  you 
ceased  to  require  them.  Your  own  devotion  to  study,  and 
strong,  clear  intellect  will  render  them  unnecessary  for  the 
future.  But  how  came  ^ou  here  ?"  said  he,  abruptly,  as  if 
shrinking  from  further  interrogations  on  the  subject — "I 
supposed  you  were  in  your  '  rural  studio,'  as  you  somewhat 
poetically  term  it." 

"  Xo,  no  ;  I  too  have  deserted  it.  Carrie's  attention,  as 
you  are  aware,  has  been  so  much  given  to  Mrs.  Gray,  since 
her  illness,  that  she  has  been  unable  to  join  me  there  ;  and 
deprived  of  your  presence  and  hers,  it  seemed  lonely  and 
drear  as  a  charnel-house.  This  evening  she  was  as  usual 
going  to  visit  her  charge,  and  I,  pining  like  a  caged  bird,  to 
roam  over  these  hills,  prevailed  on  Mrs.  Ormond  to  let  me 
accompany  her  to  assist  in  conveying  some  necessaries  to 
the  aged  invalid." 

"  And  why  did  you  falter  in  your  errand  of  mercy ;" 
said  he,  fixing  upon  her  a  glance  so  penetrating  that  her 
eye  fell  beneath  it." 

"  My  thoughts  were  so  little  in  consonance  with  a  sick 
room,  I  forbore  to  intrude  upon  it.  Not  that  I  have  not 
sympathy  for  the  sufferer,  but  I  am  so  ignorant  of  the  care 
an  invalid  requires,  that  I  feel  as  though  my  awkward  efforts 


80  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

to  contribute  to  her  comfort  -would  but  add  to  her  pain. 
Beside,"  she  continued,  feeling  that  her  excuses  were  friv- 
olous, and  unsatisfactory  to  him,  "  my  health  is  so  precious 
to  my  father,  I  dare  not  expose  it  to  any  contagion — such 
was  his  parting  injunction.  " 

With  a  strong  effort  he  forced  back  the  sigh  upon  his 
heart.  "Not,"  thought  he,  mournfully,  "from  the  couch 
of  languishing  must  a  pastor's  bride  shrink,  even  though 
contagion  lurks  in  its  surrounding  atmosphere."  He.  was 
pained — so  deeply  pained,  that  not  even  when  Carrie,  in 
the  evening,  informed  him  that  through  the  generous  lib- 
erality of  Florence,  she  had  procured  a  nurse  for  the  in- 
valid, skilled  in  ministrations  to  the  sick,  did  it  abate  ;  for 
it  was  an  evidence  of  how  all  unsuited  was  she,  upon  whom 
he  had  lavished  the  whole  wealth  of  his  affections,  to  be 
his  bride. 

Although  his  disapprobation  was  not  expressed,  Florence 
perceived  it,  and  felt  it  keenly.  She  turned  her  head 
proudly  away  from  him,  to  conceal  the  tears  which  filled 
her  eyes,  wondering  why  he  should  be  offended  at  her,  for 
so  slight  a  dereliction  of  duty. 

However,  it  was  only  for  a  moment  that  her  anger  could 
swell  against  him.  She  was  by  far  too  happy  at  being 
again  with  him,  to  give  way  to  such  feelings  long — and  so 
often  had  her  own  sunshiny  spirit  chased  away  the  melan- 
choly that  frequently  mingled  with  his,  that  she  now  turned 
and  resumed  the  conversation  in  her  own  gay  manner,  and 
thus  sought  to  remove  his  displeasure — and  soon  the  clouds 
were  driven  off,  and  he  was  again  as  happy  as  in  hours 
gone  by — for  when  was  ever  man  proof  against  the  smiles 
of  her  he  loves  ? 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  81 

"  I  have  been  making  a  coronet  for  Carrie,"  said  she 
holding  up  the  wreath  of  flowers,  "and  intended  to  en- 
throne her  upon  this  rock  as  the  Queen  of  the  Wild  wood. 
But  this  is  not  a  becoming  wreath  for  her — only  the  pure, 
starry  jessamine,  or  the  white  moss  rose-bud,  or  the  more 
beautiful  orange-flowers  of  my  own  sunny  home,  should 
encircle  her  brow  of  purity. 

"Yes,"  he  replied,  "these  gorgeous  flowers  best  accord 
with  your  glowing  complexion,"  and  he  wound  the  wreath, 
amid  her  glossy  tresses. 

"Now,  how  shall  I  know  if  it  be  becoming  or  not?" 
She  leaned  over  the  streamlet,  saying,  "  the  crystal  element, 
I  have  been  told,  is  the  Indian  maiden's  mirror.  Aye, 
woman,  whether  savage  or  civilized,  has  an  intuitive  know- 
ledge of  ascertaining  her  own  personal  charms.  But  the 
surface  of  the  stream  is  so  broken  it  does  not  answer  the 
purpose.  I  shall  be  compelled  to  abide  by  your  decision," 
and  she  lifted  her  brilliant  face  to  his  admiring  glance. 

He  had  looked  upon  the  beautiful  profile,  with  its  long, 
silken  lashes,  sweeping  the  crimson  cheek  ;  but  when  the 
full  splender  of  the  face  was  brought  suddenly  to  his  gaze, 
enhanced  by  the  gorgeous  wreath  that  bound  her  brow, 
but  more  particularly  by  a  certain  mysterious  influence 
within,  which  gave  to  her  eye  a  peculiar  fascination,  and  to 
her  complexion  an  increased  richness,  he  started  in  sur- 
prise. Never  before  had  he  seen  her  to  so  great  an  advan- 
tage. 

"  Beautiful !"  burst  spontaneously  from  his  lips.  He 
recovered  himself,  and  said  with  subdued  enthusiasm, — 
"Florence,  you  have  heard  of  the  whited  sepulcher,  so 
beautiful  and  pure  in  its  outward  appearance,  yet  contain- 


82  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

ing  death  and  deformity  Avithin — 0  may  you  never  resem- 
ble it.  Crush  down  the  spirit  of  vanity  which  would  cause 
you  to  exult  in  your  beauty,  and  as  the  casket  is  indeed  so 
perfect,  see  thou  that  the  jewel  it  contains  is  worthy  of  it." 

They  sat  long  upon  the  rock,  at  times  conversing,  then 
again  relapsing  into  silence — the  silence  of  hearts  too  full 
for  utterance  ;  and  he  who  had  gone  forth  strong  in  virtu- 
ous resolves,  Avas  again  subdued  by  the  smiles  of  a  maiden 
of  seventeen — alive  only  to  the  bliss  of  the  present  moment, 
the  past  and  the  future  were  alike  unheeded. 

The  evening  sun,  as  though  sympathizing  with  the  hap- 
piness of  these  young  hearts,  traveled  with  a  tardy  pace, 
adown  the  western  sky,  to  his  nightly  couch,  around  which 
golden  and  purple  clouds  hung  curtain-like.  The  music  of 
the  cascade  was  borne  up  to  them  on  the  evening  breeze, 
and  the  valley  with  its  winding  stream,  looked  wondrously 
beautiful  in  the  mellow  light.  La  Belle  Ohio,  its  western 
boundary,  seemed  a  belt  of  molten  silver.  Beneath  them, 
in  deep  repose  lay  the  village,  and  far  away  in  the  distance 
the  turrets  of  the  seminary  arose  from  out  their  forest- 
shield. 

It  was  an  hour  to  which  memory,  in  after  years,  reArerted 
with  a  sigh. 

"  My  ideas  of  heaven,"  suddenly  exclaimed  Florence, 
turning  from  the  enchanting  tableaux,  "  are  those  of  the 
Mussulman.  My  imagination  pictures  a  place  of  glorious 
sunshine,  gushing  fountains,  cooling  streams,  majestic  for- 
ests, beds  of  roses,  and  melodious " 

"  Ah  !  brother,  are  you  beguiling  .Florence's  loneli- 
ness ?"  said  Carrie,  coming  up  behind  them,  and  laying  her 
hand  gently  upon  his  arm.  "  I  imagined  I  should  find  her 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  83 

as  woe-begone  as  Selkirk  in  his  solitude  ;  but  I  presume 
she  was  not  very  impatient  at  my  delay.  I  have  been 
visiting  Mrs.  Gray,"  continued  she,  "  and  am  happy  to  be 
able  to  tell  you  the  crisis  of  the  disease  is  passed,  and  she 
is  lying  very  comfortably  now.  The  physician  thinks  her 
recovery  hopeful." 

"I  rejoice  to  hear  of  an  abatement  in  her  sufferings,  for 
they  were  truly  very  great.     I  had  started  thither  myself, 


The  sentence  remained  unfinished  ;  not  once  had  he 
thought  of  the  object  for  which  he  had  set  out,  since  Flo- 
rence so  unexpectedly  appeared  before  him. 

"  Come,"  said  Carrie,  "do  you  not  see  the  sun  is  set- 
ting? we  must  hasten  our  steps,  or  the  evening  service  will 
be  delayed." 

With  a  light  and  graceful  step,  she  sped  down  the  hill- 
side, nor  paused  till  she  reached  the  cascade's  foaming 
basin.  Dipping  her  hands  into  it,  she  lifted  up  handsfull 
of  the  cool  water  to  her  lips.  It  was  so  pure  and  sweet, 
she  never  passed  without  cooling  her  thirst. 

The  pastor  and  Florence  pursued  their  course  with  a 
slower  pace  ;  but  though  the  tones  of  her  loved  voice  were 
ringing  in  his  ears  like  the  melody  of  some  rare  bird,  the 
sunshine  was  passing  from  his  spirit,  even  as  that  from  the 
face  of  nature,  and  a  shade  more  somber  than  evening's 
approaching  gloom,  overshadowed  it. 

There  was  remorse  of  conscience  for  the  neglected  duty, 
and  regret  for  the  broken  resolve.  "  I  have  lost  my  man- 
hood," thought  he  ;  "  become  weak  as  a  child." 

On  entering  the  suburbs  of  the  village,  Carrie  pointed 
to  a  small,  white  cottage  which  looked  exceedingly  pictu- 


84'  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

resque,  imbedded  as  it  was  in  an  ocean  of  verdure,  and 
exclaimed:  "  What  a  lovely  little  home  !"  Her  eyes  rest- 
ing with  pleasure  on  the  matron  who  was  spreading  the 
spotless  cloth  for  the  evening's  repast  beneath  the  tall  pines 
that  surrounded  it — gazing  ever  and  anon  with  joyous 
affection  on  her  husband,  who  was  lying  amid  the  clover 
and  grass  engaged  in  an  uproarious  play  with  his  flaxen- 
haired  boy  of  some  three  summers. 

"  The  young  couple  are  so  sincerely  attached  to  each, 
other,  their  home  is  the  very  abode  of  comfort,  happiness, 
and  love." 

"  Why  how  romantic  you  have  become,  Carrie.  This 
then  fills  your  idea  of  '  love  in  a  cottage'  does  it  ?  I  must 
confess  it  falls  far  short  of  mine ;  I  could  never  imagine 
any  great  amount  of  either  comfort,  happiness,  or  love  to 
exist  within  the  walls  of  a  whitewashed  cottage." 

"  Do  you  conceive  it  to  be  an  impossibility  for  happiness 
to  dwell  beneath  a  lowly  roof?"  said  the  pastor,  with  some 
earnestness  of  manner. 

"  Not  exactly  so ;  I  have  read  that  there  is  more  of  the 
herb  called  heartseas*,  to  be  found  in  the  bosoms  of  the 
lowly  born,  than  in  those  enshrouded  in  silk  and  velvet; 
and  I  presume,  persons  who  have  known  no  greater  com- 
forts, than  those  which,  are  usually  found  in  so  humble  a 
home,  might  experience  a  kind  of  nominal  happiness ;  but 
to  one  accustomed  to  the  comforts  of  a  more  luxurious  style 
of  living,  I  surmise,  the  most  ardent  love  in  such  a  cottage 
could  scarcely  secure  happiness.  But  Carrie,  in  your 
search  for  some  object,  upon  which  to  bestow  your  over- 
flowing admiration,  I  am  surprised  that  you  should  over- 
look the  noble  pines  that  surround  the  cottage.  The  pine, 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  85 

i 

of  all  the  forest  monarchs,  is  the  most  worthy  of  admira- 
tion. How  majestically  does  it  lift  up  its  head,  like  a  man 
strong  in  the  consciousness  of  superiority.  The  storms 
and  tempests  of  the  North-king  assail  it  in  vain ;  when  all 
its  compeers  have  succumbed  to  his  fury,  it,  with  proud 
defiance,  sets  at  naught  his  desolating  breath.  What  a 
glorious  type  for  man — rising  superior  to  the  storms  of  life, 
unmoved  by  the  shafts  of  fate,  be  they  ever  so  drear." 

With  the  step  of  a  queen  and  head  proudly  erect,  the 
young  maiden  all  unconsciously  assumed  the  deportment 
with  which  her  imagination  invested  the  object  of  her 
admiration. 

"I,  too,  love  the  pine,"  said  the  gentle  Carrie,  "for  it 
reminds  me  of  the  Christian's  hope.  Earthly  hopes  fade 
as  leaves  before  the  northern  blast'  but,  as  the  pine 
remains  verdant,  amid  the  desolation  of  surrounding 
death — even  so  the  Christian's  hope  fades  not,  though 
encompassed  in  the  gloom  of  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of 
death." 

On  reaching  the  parsonage,  Carrie  stopped  at  the  gate, 
and  opening  it  said ;  "  Florence,  oblige  me  by  stepping 
into  the  parlor  a  moment  while  I  give  some  directions  to 
Judith  that  were  forgotten  this  morning.  I  shall  not  detain 
you  long." 

Florence  had  never  before  entered  the  parsonage,  but 
she  had  frequently  seen  it  from  the  church  window;  and 
embowered  in  flowers  and  shrubbery,  it  seemed  a  mimic 
Eden  to  her ;  perhaps  from  its  association  with  one  whose 
presence  she  felt  would  create  an  Eden  of  the  most  barren 
spot  upon  earth. 

As  she  sat  in  the  little  parlor-study,  for  it  answered  the 


86  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

two-fold  purpose — her  eyes  involuntarily  glanced  round  the 
room.  They  rested  with  pleasure  upon  the  fine  library, 
and  with  surprise,  upon  the  plain  and  simple  furniture — 
Carrie's  magnificent  piano  being  the  only  costly  piece  of 
furniture  it  contained. 

Her  thoughts  reverted  to  the  elegant  parlors  in  her 
father's  house.  "Yes,"  thought  she,  "my  wealth  will  be 
all-sufficient  for  our  wants." 

"  Of  what  are  you  thinking,  Florence?"  said  the  pastor. 
He  had  noticed  her  surprise  on  beholding  the  plain  and 
unpretending  style  in  which  his  home  was  furnished;  and 
her  pleasure  as  her  glance  rested  on  Carrie's  piano,  as 
though  in  that  alone  she  recognized  a  familiar  object. 

She  started,  for  the  first  time  in  her  life  blushing  crimson 
at  the  possibility  of  her  thoughts  becoming  known  to  another ; 
and  answered  quickly:  " My  thoughts  are  not  worth  even 
the  small  pittance  usually  offered  for  such  commodity." 
Recovering  from  her  momentary  embarrassment,  she  con- 
tinued in  a  tone  of  mock  surprise :  "  Can  it  indeed  be  pos- 
sible that  our  pastor  has  abjured  his  creed  and  turned 
father  confessor  ?  Know  then,  sir  proselyte,  that  I  cling  to 
the  established  faith,  with  the  devotion  of  a  crown-prince 
of  England." 

Carrie  having  completed  her  domestic  arrangements  re- 
entered,  and  they  immediately  arose  to  depart. 

Though  the  shadows  of  twilight  were  deepening  upon 
the  vale,  they  lingered  long  on  their  way;  nor  did  the 
pastor  seek  to  hasten  their  footsteps,  for  there  was  that  at 
his  heart,  which  told  him  it  was  his  last  stroll  with  Flo- 
rence. He  walked  by  her  side  in  profound  silence,  taking 
no  part  in  the  gay  and  animated  conversation;  and  she,  in 


EAULY  ENGAGEMENTS.  87 

her  own  overflowing  happiness,  did  not  perceive  the  shadow 
that     rested  on  his  brow. 

The  poppy  wreath  was  fallen  from  his  eyes ;  in  the  varied 
conversation  and  occurrences  of  the  evening,  proof  on 
proof  had  accumulated  to  convince  him  of  how  misplaced 
was  his  affection ;  and  the  burst  of  sunshine,  which  for  a 
time  beamed  so  gloriously  over  him  that  evening,  left  him 
in  a  darkness  yet  more  hopelessly  profound. 


88  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

There  was  for  her  one  only  dream  on  earth ! 
There  was  for  her  one  only  star  aboye 
She  bent  in  passionate  idolatry 
Before  her  heart's  sole  idol. 

With  witching  song 
And  wild  guitar's  soul-thrilling  melody.  LANDON. 

morning  Florence  received  a  letter  from  her  father, 
announcing  his  determination  to  remove  her  from   S 
vale  that  autumn,  instead  of  the   succeeding   spring,  the 
period  first  appointed. 

He  wrote,  that  owing  to  the  illness  which  prevented  his 
visiting  her  at  the  anticipated  time,  he  would  be  under  the 
necessity  of  bringing  her  home  some  months  sooner  than 
he  had  proposed — he  could  not  exist  till  the  following 
spring  without  seeing  his  darling,  and  the  state  of  his 
health  would  not  admit  of  two  journeys  of  so  great  length 
within  so  short  a  period.  "  You  shall  remain,  however," 
he  concluded,  "till  as  late  a  period  in  the  season  as  it  will 
be  prudent  for  me  to  visit  the  north." 

The  joyous  young  face  of  Carrie  was  clouded  with  grief 
that  evening,  as  she  informed  her  brother  that  Florence's 
residence  with  them  was  limited  to  so  short  a  time. 

He  too,  by  the  same  post,  had  received  a  letter  from  an 
old  and  valued  friend,  urging  him  to  accept  a  long  standing 
invitation  to  visit  him.  Feeling  wholly  disqualified  to  dis- 
charge the  duties  incumbent  upon  him,  he  gratefully  wrote 
an  immediate  acceptance  ;  "and,"  thought  he,  with  a  sigh, 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  89 

as  lie  finished  the  necessary  preparations  for  his  journey ; 
"her  departure  will  so  soon  follow  my  return,  I  shall  be 
spared  further  exposures  to  her  dangerous  fascinations, 
which  the  past  has  taught  me,  I  am  all  too  feeble  to 
resist." 

A  hope  animated  him  also,  that  in  the  absence  of  all 
objects  to  remind  him  of  his  unfortunate  passion,  he  might 
the  more  readily  overcome  it. 

The  succeeding  month  passed  with  a  leaden  pace  to 
Florence — not  from  an  eager  desire,  that  the  period  should 
arrive,  for  her  return  home.  With  deep  self  reproach  she 
felt,  that  that  was  no  longer  a  source  of  joy  to  her,  even 
.though  she  should  be  restored  to  her  father,  who  in  declin- 
ing health,  was  pining  for  her  gentle  ministrations  of  love. 

The  dreary  separation  of  a  few  weeks  from  the  pastor, 
had  taught  her  to  its  full  extent,  how  entirely  her  happi- 
ness concentered  in  him — that  life  itself  were  valueless, 
unless  woA^en  with  his.  Having  never  had  a  wish  ungrati- 
fied,  she  thought  not  of  the  possibility  of  being  doomed  in 
this,  the  dearest,  tenderest,  holiest  one  of  her  life,  to  disap- 
pointment. She  knew  not,  that  even  then  he  had  flown 
from  her  presence,  as  from  a  deadly  contagion — for  deadly 
to  all  his  hopes  of  earthly  happiness,  he  feared  it  must 
prove.  The  only  fears  or  doubts  she  experienced  on  the 
subject,  were  that  he  might  be  unwilling  to  give  up  his 
charge,  to  which  he  was  so  devotedly  attached,  even  for 
the  splendors  of  her  home — "no  not  for  that,"  said  she, 
"  he  would  scorn  that  as  '  earth's  vanities' —  but  for  my 
love  !  There  is  no  sacrifice  that  I  would  not  make  for  him, 
then  surely  there  can  be  none  he  would  not  cheerfully 
make  for  me.  We  cannot  come  to  him — for  my  father 
8 


90  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

could  not  exist  a  month  in  this  climate,  but  he  can  come  to 
us.  It  is  but  natural,  that  he  should  part  reluctantly  with 
those,  between  whom  and  himself,  relations  of  so  tender 
and  interesting  a  character,  have  so  long  existed  ;  but  this 
would  prove,  but  'as  the  dust  atom  on  life's  chariot 
wheels,'  in  comparison  with  our  final  separation." 

It  was  the  temporary  separation,  for  it  was  scarcely 
probable  that  he  would  accompany  her  home,  that  de- 
prived her  anticipated  return,  of  all  pleasant  associations. 

During  her  brother's  absence,  Carrie  remained  at  the 
seminary,  occupying  part  of  Florence's  bed,  and  had  wept 
herself  to  sleep  upon  Florence's  bosom,  whenever  the  con- 
versation chanced  to  turn  upon  their  approaching  sepa- 
ration. The  severance  of  the  tender  ties  which  had  for 
months  united  them,  filled  her  loving  heart  with  pain. 
They  were  scarcely  a  moment  apart  now — each  realized 
the  golden  value  of  Time. 

Florence  also,  looked  forward  with  sorrowful  regret,  to 
the  dissolution  of  her  connection  with  her  teachers  and 
classmates;  but  especially  with  her  who  had  been  "more 
than  mother  kind." 

One  evening,  on  coming  forth  from  the  benediction, 
Florence  exclaimed  Avith  rapture  upon  the  exceeding 
splendor  of  the  night.  The  silvery  clouds  which  had  half 
concealed  the  glory  of  the  Night  Queen,  in  the  early  part 
of  the  evening,  were  now  gathered  into  snow-wreaths 
along  the  horizon  ;  and  all  Nature  seemed  in  a  trance 
beneath  her  gentle  smile. 

"  It  is  too  lovely  a  night  to  retire  so  soon,"  said  Carrie  ; 
"  Please,  dear,  good,  kind  Miss  Johnson,"  she  said,  turn- 
ing to  our  superior  teacher;  "permit  Florence  and  I  to 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  91 

^. 
sing  one  song  upon  the  bridge,  before  we  retire.     Music  on 

the  water,  this  sweet,  stilly  evening,  will  be  enchanting,  and 
we  will  return  before  the  lights  are  out." 

Ere  the  reluctant  consent  was  given,  she  had  flown  to 
the  music-room  for  Florence's  guitar;  and  a  few  moments 
later,  their  voices  blended  in  sweet  song  to  its  accompani- 
ment. 

There  was  an  unexpected  listener,  for  the  pastor  had  re- 
turned that  evening,  and  had  hastened  to  the  seminary, 
hoping  to  be  there  in  time  to  participate  in  the  evening's 
devotion  ;  but  on  ascending  the  steps,  he  heard  the  voice 
of  prayer,  and  unwilling  to  disturb  the  worshiping  as- 
sembly, by  so  late  an  entrance,  had  gone  into  Mrs.  Or- 
mond's  private  parlor,  to  await  the  dismission. 

When  the  service  was  ended,  a  servant  entered  to  close 
the  blinds,  and  extinguish  the  lamps,  and  informed  him 
that  Mrs.  Ormond  had  retired  early,  in  consequence  of 
slight  indisposition,  and  that  Miss  Caroline  was  on  the 
lawn. 

As  he  stepped  forth  in  search  of  her,  the  tinkling  sound 
of  a  guitar,  and  the  rich,  exquisite  tones  of  a  voice,  too 
fatally  melodious  to  him,  came  floating  up  the  lawn  on  the 
evening  air. 

Very  soon  were  Carrie's  sweet,  "  wild  woodland  notes," 
hushed  by  the  sorrowful  remembrance  that  she  should 
enjoy  but  a  few  more  such  precious  hours — that  soon,  very 
soon,  the  loved  voice  of  her  friend,  would  be  heard  there 
no  more,  perchance,  forever  !  Large,  pearly  drops,  stole 
softly  down  her  rose-tinted  cheeks,  and  her  arms,  which 
were  wound  lovingly  around  her  beloved  classmate,  uncon- 
sciously tightened  their  pressure. 


92  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

Silence  reigned  supreme  —  not  a  sound  disturbed  the 
sweet  cadence  of  song.  The  voice  of  the  fair  minstrel 
grew  fainter  and  fainter,  until  it  too,  ceased  ;  but  the  air, 
as  though  entranced  with  the  melody  of  its  tones,  caught, 
and  held  them  long  in  its  tremulous  embrace. 

There  was  a  touching  pathos  in  it,  never  before  known 
in  Florence's  song.  As  well  might  you  seek  for  sorrow  in 
the  "  birdling's  song,"  as  hers;  for  like  it  hers  were  the 
gushings  forth  from  a  "  heart  so  blest,  it  must,  it  must  be 
singing." 

O       O 

It  had  ever  vibrated  upon  the  pastor's  heart  with  won- 
drous power,  but  never  before,  had  it  awakened  so  deep 
and  sympathetic  a  response.  The  heart  surcharged  with 
grief,  yields  the  most  ready  sympathy  to  the'  sorrows  of 
others.  Neither  time,  nor  distance,  had  removed  the  rank- 
ling thorn  from  his  inmost  soul ;  therefore  it  was,  that  the 
sorrow  of  her  song  affected  him  so  powerfully. 

He  stood  motionless,  until  the  last  sounds  died  away 
upon  the  night  breeze  ;  then  turned  to  seek  the  servant 
to  dispatch  him  for  his  sister,  to  acquaint  her  with  his 
arrival. 

But  the  doors  were  closed,  and  there  was  no  one  to  be 
seen.  This  gave  him  the  opportunity  so  coveted,  a  moment 
since,  to  approach  her,  and  ascertain  the  cause  of  Tier 
melancholy  :  and  stifling  the  "  still,  small  voice"  that  bade 
him  "  flee  from  the  song  of  the  siren,"  almost  before  he 
was  aware  of  it  he  was  approaching  her. 

If  this  be  deemed  a  weakness  in  the  pastor,  that  jie 
should,  after  a  thorough  conviction  of  the  danger,  again 
seek  the  society  of  Florence,  there  is  some  palliation  in  the 
fact  that  the  duties  of  his  vocation,  as  well  as  the  kindly 


EARLY  ENGAGEMKKTS.  93 

impulses  of  his  nature,  led  him  ever  to  the  side  of  the 
sorrowing. 

The  velvet  softness  of  the  grass,  broke  the  sound  of  his 
footfall,  and  he  was  very  near  to  them,  ere  they  knew  of 
his  coming. 

His  eyes  were  riveted  on  the  face  of  the  young  southerner, 
and  its  pensive  expression  was  rendered  clearly  visible  by 
the  pure,  unclouded  rays  of  the  moon.  He  subdued,  by  a 
strong  effort,  the  emotions  which  agitated  him,  and  spoke 
in  a  tone  so  light,  it  jarred  strangely  painful  on  his  ear. 

"  I  have  come  to  disturb  your  melancholy  reveries,"  said 
he,  extending  to  each  a  hand;  "I  fear  the  moon,  whom 
Hood  tells  us,  '  is  the  source  of  sighs,  the  very  face  to 
make  us  sad,'  has  cast  upon  you  the  baneful  spells  the 
poet  ascribes  to  her." 

"  Brother,"  burst  forth  the  sweet  ringing  voice  of  Carrie, 
as  she  sprang  with  joyous  surprise  into  his  arms. 

"  My  darling  little  sister,"  murmured  the  pastor,  folding 
her  to  his  breast,  and  leaning  over  her,  pressed  his  lips  to 
her  fair  young  brow. 

Every  trace  of  melancholy  had  vanished  from  the  face  of 
Florence,  when  he  again  looked  up,  and  a  smile  most 
radiant  beamed  from  it  as  she  replied  : 

"  And  would  you  have  us  ever  gay  ?  Does  not  the  same 
author  affirm, 

'  There  's  not  a  string  attuned  to  mirth, 
But  has  its  chords  of  melancholy. ' 

But  the  influence  of  which  you  spoke  gave  no  coloring 
to  our  thoughts.  We  have  been  conversing  much  to-day 
of  my  return  home  ;"  her  voice  faltered,  and  again  a  shade 
of  melancholy  swept  over  her  beautiful  features. 


94  EAQLV  ENGAGEMENTS. 

"  And  does  that  induce  a  melancholy  train  of  thought? 
With  you,  I  supposed,  the  effect  Avould  be  quite  opposite." 

"  It  does;  for  though  I  am  anxious  to  be  re-united  to  my 
father,  who  has  borne  this  long  separation  with  a  martyr's 
courage,  I  shall  leave  behind  me  friends,  who  have  become 
dear  as  life  to  me  ;  and  the  loss  of  whose  society,  must 
create  a  painful  vacuum  even  amid  the  loved  associations 
of  home." 

The  heart  of  the  pastor  was  one  throb  of  joy.  Might  not 
lie,  without  a  very  great  degree  of  vanity,  claim  to  be  one 
of  those  friends  of  whom  she  had  spoken  in  terms  of  such 
endearing  affection.  For  a  time  he  dared  not  speak — at 
length  he  replied : 

"  This  avowal  will  revive  the  drooping  spirits  of  Carrie, 
who  feared  much,  that  in  the  happy  society  of  the  '  loved 
ones'  to  whom  you  will  so  shortly  return,  the  memory  of 
this  place,  and  the  friendships  formed  here,  would  pass 
away.  In  order  to  rescue  one  friend  from  the  heart's  obli- 
vion, she  desired  me  to  procure  her  a  ring  to  present  to 
you,  as  a  sort  of  remembrancer,  hoping  that  it  might  re- 
freshen your  memory  of  her  when  it  began  to  grow  dim." 

He  took  her  small,  passive  hand,  within  his  own,  and 
placed  upon  one  of  those  tapering  fingers,  the  richly-jew- 
eled ring — the  circlet,  whose  talismanic  powers  were  to 
bind  the  past  to  the  future. 

"  Can  it  be,"  said  she,  with  unwonted  enthusiasm,  "that 
I  have  been  so  long  with  you,  and  still  you  know  me  not. 
Base  ingrate,  indeed,  must  I  prove,  to  forget  friends  to 
whom  I  owe  so  much.  How  deeply  you  wrong  me,  Carrie, 
by  such  a  thought.  Not  until  the  heart  of  Florence  De 
Lisle  has  ceased  its  pulsations,  can  the  memory  of  kind- 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  95 

ness  such  as  yours  be  obliterated ;  and  while  life  remains, 
the  hours  spent  in  this  beautiful  vale,  in  the  society  of  friends 
so  dear,  will  ever  be  regarded  as  the  brightest  and  happiest 
of  her  young  existence." 

As  she  uttered  the  latter  part  of  the  sentence  her  eyes 
were  involuntarily  turned  toward  him  who  had  given  to  those 
hours  their  brightest  hues.  A  crimson  blush  suffused  her 
brow  as  the  thought  came  over  her  that  her  impetuosity  of 
feeling,  had  induced  her  to  say  more  than  she  should  have 
done — far  more  than  maidenly  modesty  warranted. 

She  withdrew  the  hand  which  was  still  tremulously 
retained  in  his.  It  was  yielded  reluctantly,  and  the  warm 
pressure  which  sought  to  detain  it  caused  the  lifetide  to  flow 
tumultuously  through  her  veins. 

Words,  burning  with  the  eloquence  of  love,  arose  to  the 
pastor's  lips — "  She  loves  me — she  loves  me,"  thought  he; 
and  in  that  blessed  thought  every  obstacle  to  their  union 
seemed  at  once  to  vanish. 

But  Carrie  now  caught  her  hand,  to  examine  the  ring,  and 
began  to  express  her  approbation  of  his  choice. 

(Ah,  Carrie  !  Carrie  !  why  did  you  thus  step,  as  it  were, 
between  two  hearts,  which  but  a  word  would  have  rendered 
forever  "  one  and  inseparable,"  and  put  them  asunder,  ah! 
must  it  be  forever  /) 

The  gems  which  the  ring  contained  blazed  and  flickered 
beneath  the  moonbeams,  and  Carrie  observed,  "  You  have 
chosen  wisely,  dear  Theodore,  it  is  truly  emblematical  of 
my  affection — endless  as  the  circle — bright  and  enduring 
as  the  gem.  Whenever  it  arrests  your  attention,  dearest 
Florence,  may  it  recall  to  remembrance  an  affection  which 
time,  nor  distance,  nor  aught  save  death  can  chill." 


96  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

Deep  feeling  ever  destroys  the  power  of  utterance  ;  and 
Florence  could  do  naught  but  press  her  lips  warmly  to  Car- 
rie's brow,  in  assurance  of  her  sincere  appreciation  of  the 
sentiments  of  regard  she  professed. 

"  But  the  lights  are  disappearing  in  the  rooms,  brother, 
and  we  must  no  longer  detain  Florence.  Already  my  sis- 
ter's rules  have  been  transgressed  ;  but  he  shall  suffer  the 
penalty,  shall  he  not,  Florence  ?  But  for  him  we  should 
have  returned  long  since;"  and  kissing  her,  she  bade  her 
good  night,  and  took  her  brother's  arm  to  depart. 

"  Good  night,  good  night,"  murmured  Florence,  raising 
her  lustrous  glance  for  a  moment  to  Mr.  Neville's. 

With  a  quick,  uncertain  step,  she  hastened  to  her  room. 
All  tremulous  with  emotion,  it  was  a  relief  to  be  alone — 
alone  with  her  heart's  overflowing  bliss.  Her  whole  being 
was  one  thrill  of  rapture,  therefore,  it  was  impossible  to 
retire. 

She  sat  down  by  the  window,  through  which  a  flood  of 
silvery  radiance  was  pouring,  and  pressed  her  burning 
face  and  throbbing  brow  to  the  glass,  as  though  to  cool 
their  fevered  heat.  But  quietude  was  insupportable — she 
arose,  threw  up  the  sash  and  stepped  forth  upon  the 
balcony. 

Hour  followed  hour  into  the  deep,  unfathomable  gulf  of 
time,  yet  Florence,  all-unheeding,  continued  to  pace  with  a 
hurried  step  back  and  forth.  At  length,  from  sheer  ex- 
haustion, she  sank  down,  and  bending  her  beautiful  face 
over  the  balustrade,  gazed  out  upon  the  mute  scene  of 
repose  before  her. 

All  nature  seemed  under  the  slumberous  influence  of  the 
night-god,  save  her,  the  tumults  of  whose  soul  were  indi- 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  97 

cated  by  her  hurried  pace.  The  very  air  seemed  to  sleep 
upon  the  soft  bosom  of  the  valley — not  a  sound — not  a 
breath  disturbed  the  sweet  serenity ;  and  ere  long  nature's 
holy  calm  soothed  her  excited  feelings  into  repose. 

The  stars  were  paling  away,  and  morning's  rosy  tints 
stained  the  eastern  sky,  when  she  arose  to  resume  her 
nightly  couch.  Sleep  gradually  stole  upon  her;  yet  ever 
and  anon  smiles  swept  over  those  stilly  features,  like  flashes 
of  sunshine  on  the  calm  lake's  surface,  and  told  that  the 
mind,  unfettered  by  the  chains  which  bound  the  physical 
powers,  was  roaming  through  Elysian  fields. 

In  the  visions  of  sleep,  again  she  stood  upon  the  bridge, 
(a  place  most  meet  for  such  a  scene,  for  here  they  had  first 
met,)  and  the  ring  he  presented  was  the  ring  of  betroth- 
ment — again  were  her  hands  clasped  in  his,  and  even  the 
imaginary  pressure  pervaded  her 

"  With  raptured  joy's  tumultuous  swell," 

and  the  moon,  who,  through  all  ages  of  time,  has  lighted 
the  lover's  tryste,  shed  upon  them  her  softest  radiance. 

The  incoherent  replies  of  the  pastor,  on  his  homeward 
way,  betrayed  his  abstracted  thoughts.  Those  precious 
words  still  rang  in  his  ears — "  the  happiest  hours  of  my 
life  have  been  spent  here,  in  the  society  of  these  friends — 
friends  who  are  dear  as  life."  It  was  more,  perhaps,  owing 
to  her  manner  and  tone,  than  to  the  words  themselves,  that 
gave  the  pastor  hope  of  a  reciprocity  of  his  affection — and 
well  he  knew  that  Florence  De  Lisle  never  yet  professed  a 
sentiment  she  did  not  feel. 

The  hope  once  admitted,  all  his  former  doubts  vanished 
in  regard  to  the  happiness  of  their  union,  whose  positions 
in  life  were  so  diametrically  opposed  to  each  other.  So 
9 


5)8  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

long  as  lie  thought  he  alone  should  suffer,  the  obstacles  to 
their  marriage  seemed  too  formidable  to  be  overcome ;  but 
she — she  must  be  shielded  from  every  possible  pang — her 
happiness  must  not  be  sacrificed  for  any  trivial  considera- 
tions. 

Doubtless,  her  proud  and  aristocratic  father  would  seek 
for  his  only  child,  his  beautiful  heiress,  a  far  more  distin- 
guished alliance  ;  yet  his  idolatrous  affection  for  her,  would 
prevent  any  very  decided  opposition  to  their  union  ;  for  her 
happiness  could  not  but  be  the  boon  most  prized  by  him, 
since  in  that,  his  own  was  concentrated. 

Though  he  felt  it  impossible  to  be  near  her  now,  and  not 
betray  his  regard  by  every  glance,  tone,  and  action,  his 
honorable  nature  forbade  him  making  a  formal  declaration, 
until  after  Mr.  De  Lisle's  arrival,  when  he  would  acquaint 
him  with  their  mutual  affection,  and  seek  to  obtain  the  ap- 
probation of  his  suit. 

The  young  pastor  poured  forth  his  deep  and  fervent 
gratitude,  for  the  unnumbered  blessings  of  life  ;  and  sank 
to  sleep,  murmuring,  "  Pardon  me,  Heavenly  Father,  if,  in 
the  excess  of  earthly  happiness,  my  heart  has  somewhat 
strayed  from  Thee  ;  and  oh  !  do  Thou  keep  this  earthly  love 
from  coming  between  mine  and  thine." 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  99 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

Ah !  me,  for  aught  that  ever  I  could  read, 

Could  ever  hear  by  tale  or  history, 

The  course  of  true  love  never  did  run  smooth. 

MIDSUMMER-NIGHT'S  DREAM. 

Serene  he  stood, 

A  pale,  sad  beauty  on  his  youthful  brow, 
With  eyes  upraised,  as  if  the  stricken  soul 
Fled  from  material  things.       SIGOURXEY. 

"  Alas  I  that  clouds  should  ever  steal 
0:er  love's  delicious  sky." 

AT  an  earlier  hour  than  usual  on  the  succeeding  evening 
the  pastor  directed  his  course  toward  the  seminary.  He 
was  just  entering  his  sister's  room,  when  a  door  opened 
further  along  the  portico,  and  Florence  bounded  forth. 
She  paused  to  look  down  upon  some  of  her  young  com- 
panions who  were  dancing  on  the  green,  beneath  the  trees, 
to  the  merry  tones  of  a  guitar.  The  pastor  also  paused 
involuntarily  upon  the  threshold,  to  gaze  upon  her  as 
she  stood  before  him,  the  very  embodiment  of  youth, 
beauty,  and  grace.  The  light  of  those  dark,  glorious  eyes 
was  strangely  soft  and  melting,  and  pervaded  his  inmost 
soul  with  a  thrill  of  rapture.  Without  perceiving  him,  she 
sprang  down  the  steps  to  participate  in  the  amusement  of 
her  friends,  and  he  turned  to  address  Mrs.  Ormond. 

After  some  common-place  remarks  he  sank  into  silence  ; 
his  visual  organs  still  retaining  the  radiant  figure  of  the 
young  southern  girl.  Joy  lurked  in  the  depths  of  his  dark 


100  EAKLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

blue  eye,  and  the  soft,  benignant  smile  habitual  to  him,  had 
deepened  into  one  of  intense  happiness. 

"Theodore,"  said  Mrs.  Ormond,  "I  received  a  letter 
from  Mr.  De  Lisle  this  morning,  informing  me  that  he  would 

most  certainly  be  at  S by  the  first  of  next  month,  to 

accompany  Florence  home.  I  was  much  surprised  by  the 
announcement  of  Florence's  marriage  engagement,  which 
occurred  previously  to  her  leaving  home.  He  adds,  that  it 
meets  with  his  most  cordial  approbation.  Were  you  aware 
of  it  before  ?" 

"Aware  of  what?"  said  he,  with  a  start  of  pain,  as 
though  pierced  by  some  keen  instrument. 

"  Of  Florence  Delisle's  marriage  engagement  to  Henri 
Soule,  of  whom  we  have  so  often  heard  her  speak  ?" 

"  No,  O !  no — that  is  an  impossibility — there  is  some 
strange  mistake — it  cannot  be." 

"So  I  thought.  Her  extreme  youth  at  the  time  of 
leaving  home,  seemed  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  such  a 
thing.  But  instances  of  the  kind  are  of  frequent  occur- 
rence in  the  South.  My  surprise  was  such  on  reading  the  an- 
nouncement of  it,  that  I  supposed  Mr.  De  Lisle  had  adopted 
the  European  style — taken  upon  himself  the  responsibility 
of  providing  a  husband  after  his  own  heart  for  his  daugh- 
ter ;  but  on  reading  further,  I  found  that  he  disclaimed  the 
idea,  by  saying,  that  although  it  had  been  proposed  to  him, 
by  the  father  of  young  Soule,  at  the  time  he  accepted  the 
guardianship  of  him,  and  though  he  himself  earnestly  de- 
sired it,  his  affection  for  his  daughter,  would  not  permit 
him  to  take  any  decided  steps  in  a  matter  wherein  her 
happiness  was  so  deeply  interested." 

"He   speaks    also,   of   the  extreme    gratification   with 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  101 

which  he  witnessed  the  growth  of  their  affection ;  but  that 
he  was  not  aware  of  their  engagement,  until  after  Flo- 
rence's departure,  when  Mr.  Soule  acquainted  him  with  it. 
Inclosed,  there  was  a  letter  from  young  Soule  to  Florence, 
which  he  requested  me  to  deliver,  being  the  only  one  he 
has  written,  owing  to  Mr.  De  Lisle's  express  prohibition;  he 
having  feared  such  a  correspondence  might  retard  her  im- 
provement, by  distracting  her  attention  from  her  studies; 
and  knowing  also,  my  disapproval  of  correspondences  of 
that  character.  There  can  therefore  be  no  mistake,  and 
I  am  only  surprised  now,  that  Florence,  who  confides  so  en- 
tirely in  Caroline,  should  have  withheld  so  important  a  fact 
from  her." 

He  moved  not — spoke  not — apparently  breathed  not — 
sat  as  one  suddenly  transformed  to  marble.  The  cup  just 
lifted  to  his  taste,  filled  to  the  brim  with  nectared  honey, 
was  dashed  to  the  earth,  and  in  its  stead  the  wormwood 
draught  pressed  his  lips.  A  groan,  wrung  from  his  heart's 
agony,  alone  attested  that  he  had  life. 

Absorbed  in  some  occupation,  Mrs.  Ormond  did  not  ob- 
serve the  effect  of  her  communication  upon  her  brother, 
until  aroused  by  his  agonizing  sigh,  she  looked  up,  and  be- 
held with  painful  surprise,  his  deadly  pallor,  and  fixed, 
despairing  glance.  The  truth  then  came  as  the  lightning's 
flash,  but  alas  !  too  late. 

Mingled  feelings  of  regret,  amazement,  indignation  and 
sorrow,  filled  her  bosom.  With  great  regret,  she  now  saw 
the  error  of  having  intrusted  her  brother  and  Florence  so 
frequently  together.  She  was  amazed  that  one  of  his  ex- 
cellent sense,  should  not  have  perceived  the  madness  and 
folly  of  indulging  other  sentiments  for  her,  than  those  of 


102  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

friendship — but  when  she  thought  of  the  possibility  of  his 
affection  being  returned,  and  of  the  overwhelming  displea- 
sure of  Mr.  Delisle,  when  it  should  become  known  to  him, 
her  feelings  toward  her  brother  assumed  a  tinge  of  indig- 
nation, for  it  seemed  almost  a  bretrayal  of  the  trust  she 
had  reposed  in  him.  Too  well  she  knew,  from  the  whole 
tenor  of  Mr.  Delisle's  correspondence,  that  his  consent  to 
such  a  union  for  his  daughter,  could  never  be  obtained ;  and 
upon  her  must  rest  the  greatest  weight  of  his  displeasure, 
for  having  sanctioned  the  intimacy,  of  which  this  was  the 
result.  Incensed  beyond  all  measure,  he  would  most  prob- 
ably regard  them  as  a  family  of  poor  adventurers,  who 
had  colluded  together,  to  win  his  heiress ;  or  rather  to  se- 
cure to  themselves  the  rich  dower  invested  in  her  right. 

But  mortifying  as  were  such,  reflections,  they  were  soon, 
lost  in  intense  sorrow,  for  his  present  unhappiness,  and  the 
life-long  wretchedness  which  she  saw  awaited  him. 

In  Florence's  case,  she  hoped  that  if  her  feelings  had 
become  interested,  that  it  was  but  a  passing  and  evanescent 
regard,  which  would  vanish  when  restored  to  him  who 
had  won  her  earliest  affection. 

She  longed  to  approach  her  brother,  to  assure  him  of 
her  sympathy  ;  but  she  felt  that 

His  was  not  grief  that  words  had  comfort  for ; 

that  human  sympathy  might  not  stay  the  flow  of  the  deep 
fountain  of  bitterness,  which  with  maddening  fury  had 
swept  away  the  bright  hopes  he  had  cherished  so  fondly. 
She  therefore  silently  withdrew,  leaving  him  to  solitude 
and  communion  with  self. 

Long  he  sat,  motionless  as  a  statue,  save  an  occasional 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  103 

quiver  which  passed  through  his  frame.  At  length  his  lips 
moved,  and  the  tones  of  his  voice  were  low  and  mournfully 
sweet,  as  the  wail  of  the  wind  amid  the  JEolian's  chords. 

"  How  could  I  so  deceive  myself — and  I  had  dared  to 
hope  she  loved  me — all  too  willingly  have  I  misconstrued 
the  smiles  with  which  she  greeted  me,  and  her  ardent  ex- 
pressions of  gratitude  for  the  slight  kindnesses  I  have  ren- 
dered her — willfully  have  mine  eyes  been  blinded,  else  had 
I  known  that  one,  whose  eagle-like  destiny  is  for  the  lofty 
places  of  earth,  amid  the  full  blaze  of  its  sunshine,  would 
scorn  the  shade  of  the  lowly  valley.  Shorn  now  of  the 
meaning  which  my  weak  heart  gave  to  them,  I  can  see  that 
the  words  she  last  night  uttered,  which  were  more  precious 
to  me  than  Ophir's  gold,  were  but  the  overflowings  of  a 
grateful  heart." 

"My  cup  overfloweth  with  bitterness  — "  He  paused, 
overcome  with  emotion,  his  head  drooping  forward  to  his 
breast.  At  length  he  continued,  glancing  upward,  "  But 
Oh!  do  Thou,  who  in  thy  brief  sojourn  on  earth,  wast  'a 
man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with  grief,'  give  me  to  see 
the  insignificancy  of  my  sorrows,  compared  to  thine.  0 
Heavenly  Father  !  in  mercy  strengthen  me,  and  enable  me 
to  bear  unmurmuringly,  the  ills  which  a  birthright  of  sin 
has  entailed  upon  our  fallen  race ;  and  if  at  every  step  of  the 
pathway  of  life,  we  are  torn  and  lacerated  by  its  thorns, 
may  we  find  consolation  in  knowing  it  leads  to  that  haven 
of  rest,  where  sorrows  are  unknown.  Pardon  me,  if  for  a 
moment  my  spirit  rebelled,  and  I  felt  that  there  'was  never 
sorrow,  like  unto  mine' — pardon  me,  that  I  lose  not  both 
this  world's  peace  and  that  which  has  no  end.  Make  me 
to  feel  that  all  that  Thou  dost  order,  is  wise  and  proper — 


104  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

since  had  my  fate  through  life  been  linked  to  the  gifted 
being's,  whose  loss  my  heart  doth  mourn,  earthly  ties  per- 
chance had  weakened  those  which  bound  me  to  Thee. 
Assist  me,  oh  !  assist  me  to  root  out  each  unhallowed 
thought  and  feeling  and  live  alone  to  Thee. — Be  Thou  my 
Polar  star  of  life — and  may  my  affections  be  lifted  from 
the  dust  of  earth  and  concentrated  on  Thee,  Thee  alone  !" 

He  arose  comforted,  and  "girded  with  strength  from  on 
high,"  and  left  the  seminary  privately,  and  returned  to  the 
parsonage. 

Evening,  succeeded  evening,  and  yet  the  pastor  came  no 
more  to  pour  out  the  nightly  benediction,  on  the  young 
heads  of  his  sister's  household  ;  nor  did  his  voice  again 
mingle  with  theirs,  in  the  sweet  evening  hymn  of  praise. 

Florence  glanced  over  the  letter  from  Henri  Soule, 
smiling  incredulously,  meanwhile.  With  a  burst  of  laugh- 
ter she  exclaimed,  "  a  most  lover-like  epistle,  truly.  Poor 
Harry,  his  seclusion  from  society  has  not  tended  very 
materially  to  enlighten  him,  in  the  mysteries  of  the  heart — 
knowing  nothing  of  womankind  in  general,  he  imagines 
himself  to  be  most  desperately  enamored  of  an  ignorant, 
cross,  sickly  girl  of  fifteen — '  undying  affection,  '  what  an 
absurdity  !  A  few  hours  in  the  sweet  society  of  my  friend 
Carrie,  and  her  enchantments  would  cause  him  to  forget 
all  these  violent  protestations  of  love,  and  acquaint  him  with 
his  true  sentiments  for  me,  which  can  be  no  other  than 
those  of  a  fraternal  nature.  I  do  not  love  him  less,  than 
in  by-gone  days,  but  he  can  never  be  more  to  me  than  a 
very  dear  brother.  He  reminds  me  of  an  engagement, 
made  thoughtlessly  enough  to  be  sure,  for  I  had  long  since 
forgotten  it.  But  that  does  not  matter ;  once  with  Carrie, 


EARLT  ENGAGEMENTS.  105 

and  /tin  memory  too,  will  play  him  truant.  His  proud,  and 
chivalric  nature,  will  glory  in  shielding  a  being  so  gentle, 
and  loving,  and  mimosa-like,  as  Carrie." 

"  Then  papa  will  need  some  one  to  console  him  in  his 
loneliness,  when  Harry  and  I  are  both  gone ;  and  who  so 
worthy  his  love  as  she  who  has  been  more  than  a  mother 
to  his  wayward  daughter,  for  many  months.  Dear  Mrs. 
Ormond,  the  ease  and  comforts  of  her  close  of  life  will 
somewhat  compensate  for  the  arduous  duties  of  the  past; 
and  whither  shall  my  lot  be  cast  ?  Anywhere  —  any- 
where— 

'  Whether  sunned  at  the  tropics,  or  chilled  at  the  pole,' 

if  he"  —  she  clasped  her  hands  over  her  face,  to  hide  the 
burning  blushes  her  thoughts  had  called  up.  Then  with  a 
light  laugh  she  sought  to  throw  off  her  embarrassment  by 
saying : 

"  Well,  I  certainly  have  things  arranged  as  admirably 
as  the  most  scientific  matchmaker  of  my  sex.  I  congratu- 
late myself  on  my  newly-discovered  talent." 

She  stooped  to  pick  up  Henri  Soule's  letter,  which  had 
fallen  to  the  floor,  and  said :  "  Never,  never  may  Florence 
De  Lisle  wed  him,  while — " 

Again  her  brow  was  flooded  with  crimson ;  and  dashing 
the  letter  into  a  drawer,  she  sprang  from  the  room,  down 
the  steps,  and  into  the  portico.  It  was  just  then  that  the 
pastor  stepped  upon  the  threshold  of  his  sister's  door,  and 
paused  unobserved  to  gaze  upon  her,  as  she  stood  there 
"with  the  love-light  in  her  eye,"  and  the  flush  still  Imger- 
ing  amid  the  roses  of  her  cheek  which  thoughts  of  him  had 
given  birth. 

On  the  following  Sabbath  the  pastor  was  ill ;  not  danger- 


106  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

ously  so,  it  was  said,  but  too  much  indisposed  to  perform 
the  services  of  the  day ;  and  a  strange  minister  officiated  in 
his  stead. 

He  was  in  many  respects  the  opposite  to  Mr.  Neville. 
His  forehead,  lofty  and  retreating,  was  surmounted  by 
masses  of  iron-gray  hair,  each  particular  hair  standing 
stiffly  up,  as  though  electrified  by  sudden  fright.  Enlarged 
benevolence  and  Christian  gentleness  had  not  thrown  their 
mantle  of  beauty  over  his  coarse,  irregular  features.  If  the 
countenance  be  an  index  of  the  soul  (which  it  most  assur- 
edly is),  one  would  naturally  expect  that  the  few  repulsive 
features  of  the  Christian  creed — those  which  appeal  to  the 
animal  instincts — would  prove  the  theme,  on  which  such  a 
one  would  expatiate,  with  the  greatest  facility;  and  so 
indeed  it  proved ;  for  with  a  harsh,  unpleasant  countenance, 
and  a  yet  more  harsh  and  disagreeable  voice,  he  stood 
within  the  sacred  desk,  hurling  forth  denunciations,  anathe- 
mas, and  storms  of  abuse  on  the  human  family;  seeking 
rather  to  force  and  terrify,  than  to  win  souls  to  the  service 
of  Christ. 

The  contrast  between  the  two  pastors  forced  itself  upon 
the  minds  of  the  congregation ;  and  with  painful  apprehen- 
sion they  mentally  asked  the  question,  "  Should  the 
Almighty  see  proper  to  remove  their  pastor  in  his  present 
illness,  where  should  they  find  another,  such  as  he?" 
Fears  and  self-upbraidings  filled  their  breasts,  lest  they 
had  not  heretofore  prized  aright  his  "labors  of  love"  in 
their  midst. 

To  Florence,  in  her  yet  vague  and  unformed  ideas  of 
religion,  it  seemed  as  though  the  strange  minister  taught 
of  some  god  of  a  heathen  race — not  of  that  Holy  One  of 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  107 

whom,  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath,  she  had  listened  as  a  God 
of  love,  who  would  not  accept  the  homage  of  a  heart, 
yielded  merely  from  the  dictates  of  a  servile  passion.  He 
had  taught  that  "perfect  love  casteth  out  fear;"  and  his 
powers  of  utterance  were  exerted  in  delineation  of  a  God 
of  love,  a  heaven  of  bliss,  and  the  happiness  which  a  vir- 
tuous and  pious  life  secures  both  in  this,  and  the  world  to 
come ;  and  when  he  spoke  of  the  sins  of  frail  humanity,  it 
was  in  that  solemn  and  deeply-impressive  manner  which 
carried  conviction  to  the  soul,  of  its  unworthiness  of  the 
rich  boon — a  Savior's  dying  love. 

0  that  the  vicegerents  of  God  on  earth,  more  nearly 
resembled  "  our  pastor" — that  their  lives  and  teachings 
were  a  more  perfect  mirror  of  his — the  meek,  the  pure,  the 
holy  Nazarene! 

Another  return  of  the  sacred  day  came  and  passed,  and 
still  the  young  pastor  was  unable  to  perform  divine  service ; 
but  when  another  week  was  lost  in  the  mists  of  the  past, 
the  joy  of  all  was  unbounded,  for  it  was  announced  and 
confirmed,  that  he  would  once  more  fill  his  pulpit. 

He  arose  to  open  the  service,  and  many  wondered  to  see 
the  change  his  recent  illness  had  wrought ;  for  his  counte- 
nance bore  the  traces  of  deep  suffering,  though  it  was  calm 
and  serene  as  usual.  A  shade  of  melancholy  rested  on  his 
youthful  brow,  and  the  smile,  whose  sweetness  had  won  all 
hearts  to  him,  was  faded  away.  His  voice  thrilled  with  a 
sweet,  solemn  cadence,  as  he  poured  forth  the  blessings  of 
God  upon  his  people ;  but  when  the  melody  of  praise  arose 
he  was  visibly  agitated — again  the  voice,  to  which  he  had 
so  often  listened  in  rapture,  arose  and  swelled  throughout 
the  church,  and  flooded  him  in  billows  of  melody,  He 


108  EARLV  ENGAGEMENTS. 

dared  not  listen — but  lifting  up  his  voice  in  secret  prayer, 
sought  to  free  his  mind  from  material  things,  and  fix  them 
on  heavenly. 

When  he  again  rose  up  he  was  strengthened  from  that 
Source,  whence  the  heavily-laden  can  alone  obtain  strength, 
and  the  worn  and  weary,  peace ;  and  in  a  strain  of  impas- 
sioned eloquence  and  power,  he  spoke  of  that  blessed 
world  where  sorrows  and  desolations  come  not.  The  pro- 
foundest  depths  of  his  soul  seemed  stirred — burst  after 
burst  of  eloquence  fell  upon  the  hearts  of  his  audience,  as 
sparks  of  heavenly  fire.  At  the  close  of  the  discourse,  he 
sank  down  overpowered,  bowing  his  head  to  his  folded 
hands. 

All  present  were  deeply  affected;  they  said  afterward,  that 
the  sermon  derived  its  force  and  power  from  the  circum- 
stance of  the  pastor  having  been  recently  on  the  verge  of  the 
grave;  where,  with  unclouded  eyes,  he  had  seen  all  "earth's 
emptiness,"  and  the  peculiar  blessedness  of  the  hope  of  a 
haven  of  rest  for  the  soul,  when  the  storms  of  life  are  over. 

Many  lingered  without  the  church  to  offer  their  congra- 
tulations on  his  restored  health.  Florence  was  of  the 
number;  making  some  trivial  excuse  the  cause  of  her 
delay.  At  length  he  came  forth — their  eyes  met — but 
there  was  no  smile  of  recognition  or  pleasure  on  his  part. 
He  turned  aside  to  groups  of  friends  who  were  waiting 
impatiently  to  grasp  the  hand  of  their  beloved  pastor. 

Notwithstanding  his  avoidance  of  her  was  apparent  to 
Florence,  she  sought  to  banish  the  painful  thoughts  it  occa- 
sioned, by  the  indulgence  of  a  hope  that  she  must  have 
been  unobserved.  It  was  an  ignis-fatuus  hope,  gleaming  with 
a  flickering  light  in  her  bosom,  then  vanishing  in  darkness. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  109 

"  Even  if  it  were  so,  that  he  saw  me  not,  it  is  unpardon- 
able, for  he  should  have  thought  of  me,  and  sought  me 
out,"  said  she,  in  bitterly  reproachful  tones.  "Who  on  this 
broad  earth  loves  him  as  I  do  ?  Then  who  so  overjoyed 
to  meet  him  again."  For  the  first  time,  she  had  found  a 
thorn  amid  life's  roses. 

The  finest  piano  in  the  institution  was  in  Mrs.  Ormond's 
private  parlor;  and  the  few  young  ladies  who  were  superior 
performers  were  often  permitted  to  practice  on  it.  The  day 
succeeding  the  last-named  events,  as  Florence,  in  a  far 
more  grave  and  thoughtful  mood  than  was  at  all  usual  to 
her,  was  proceeding  along  the  hall  to  the- parlor,  with  her 
music  books  on  her  arm,  the  pastor  entered  the  front  door, 
just  before  her. 

He  had  entered  that  way  purposely  to  avoid  meeting 
any  one ;  for  the  school-rooms,  and  young  ladies'  rooms 
were  located  in  the  back  part  of  the  building,  and 
none  but  Mrs.  Ormond's  immediate  family  frequented 
the  front  rooms.  As  it  most  frequently  occurs,  he  came 
in  contact  with  the  one  whom,  of  all  others,  he  most 
desired  to  shun. 

With  her  usual  impulsiveness,  she  sprang  forward  to 
him,  expressing  her  pleasure  in  her  own  Avarm,  cordial 
manner,  at  his  improved  health. 

He  did  not,  as  he  once  would  have  done,  relieve  her  of 
her  cumbrous  burden — go  with  her  into  the  parlor  and  turn 
the  pages  of  music  for  her,  or  mingle  his  voice  with  hers 
in  song,  or  sit  by  her  side,  enraptured  with  her  brilliant 
execution  of  some  chef  d'oeuvre  of  musical  composition  ; 
but  he  murmured  forth  his  thanks  in  tones  so  grave  and 


110  EAKLT  ENGAGEMENTS. 

frigid,   that  Florence  became  petrified  with   astonishment 
and  scarce  had  power  to  withdraw  from  his  presence. 

Once,  in  the  solitude  of  her  own  chamber,  she  gave  vent 
to  the  grief  his  changed  deportment  caused.  "What  can 
I  have  done  to  merit  such  treatment?  How  have  I  offended 
him  ?  I,  who  would  esteem  any  sacrifice  trifling,  which 
would  secure  to  me  his  good  opinion.  Whence  can  it  be 
that  I  have  so  grievously  offended  him?" 

Hot  tears  gushed  forth,  and,  in  a  paroxysm  of  grief,  she 
threw  herself  upon  the  bed.  After  a  time,  hope,  the  rosy 
winged  angel  of  the  youthful  breast,  soothed  her  anguished 
feelings.  "It  cannot  be  that  I  will  long  lie  under  the  ban 
of  his  displeasure.  Carrie,  dear  Carrie,  will  intercede  for 
me  —  she  will  bear  my  apologies  to  him,  and  I  shall  soon 
be  restored  to  his  favor." 

It  was  thus  she  thrust  from  her  the  dark  thought  of  an 
estrangement  of  his  affection  ;  and  as  one  sinking  beneath 
the  waves  of  despair,  she  grasped  at  the  frailest  trifle,  to 
buoy  up  her  desponding  spirits. 

The  depth  and  strength  of  her  affection  may  be  judged, 
when  a  heart  so  proud  as  Florence  De  Lisle 's  would  bow 
itself  to  supplicate  for  forgiveness  of  an  offense  which  she 
was  unconscious  of  having  given. 

The  following  day  her  spirits  were  very  unequal — alter- 
nating between  hope  and  fear.  In  a  private  interview  with 
Carrie,  she  expressed  her  fears  that  some  act  of  hers  had 
failed  to  meet  Mr.  Neville's  approbation.  Carrie  was  sure 
that  such  was  not  the  case,  as  he  had  spoken  of  her  in 
his  usual  terms  of  high  regard. 

After  the  close  of  school  hours,  she  and  a  number  of  her 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  Ill 

classmates  went  into  the  village  to  make  some  trifling  pur- 
chases. Again  she  chanced  to  meet  the  pastor ;  and 
again  his  words  to  her  were  few,  cold,  and  constrained  ; 
and  these,  together  with  his  evident  haste  to  free  himself 
from  her  presence,  told  all  convincingly,  to  a  heart  so  proud 
and  sensitive  as  hers,  that  she  was  no  longer  an  object  of 
interest  to  him. 

A  night  of  impenetrable  darkness  closed  over  the  beau- 
tiful valley,  and  its  murky  folds  seemed  to  enwrap  the  heart 
of  one  in  the  sunshine  of  youth.  Sleeplessly  she  tossed 
from  pillow  to  pillow — at  times  wringing  her  hands  in  wild 
frenzy,  and  again,  clasping  them  in  mute  despair.  She  had 
endeavored  to  recall  the  conversation  of  the  memorable 
evening  they  had  last  spent  together,  upon  which  occasion 
his  manner  had  betrayed  all  its  accustomed  warmth.  She 
could  not  distinctly  remember  all  her  remarks,  but  enough 
was  remembered  to  convince  her  that  she  had  betrayed  her 
affection  for  him.  Clearly  it  came  to  her  that  he  had  made 
no  reply,  or  spoken  again,  after  her  ardent  declaration  of 
regard,  except  when  he  bade  her  good  night ;  nor  had  he 
ever,  by  a  single  word,  expressed  other  than  a  friendly 
regard  for  her. 

It  was  evident  to  her  now,  that  she  had  yielded  up  woman's 
priceless  treasure,  "  the  pure,  virgin  love  of  her  soul,"  un- 
sought ;  and  it  was  thrown  crushingly  back  upon  her  heart, 
as  a  thing  valueless.  Having  met  with  no  response  in  his 
bosom,  his  present  coldness  was  to  remove  all  hopes  of  a 
return,  if  any  such  were  entertained. 

It  was  Florence's  first  great  sorrow ;  and  as  the  convic- 
tion forced  itself  slowly  and  painfully  upon  her,  that  hence- 
forth she  was  to  be  banished  from  his  love  —  the  life-tide 


112  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

flowed  back  in  chilled,  cold  waves  upon  her  heart,  almost 
paralyzing  its  vital  powers. 

The  heart,  says  the  sweet  Alice  Carey,  must  find  shelter 
somewhere  ;  if  not  in  love,  in  ambition  or  pride  ;  and  now 
Florence,  laboring  under  the  painfully  humiliating  convic- 
tion that  her  love  was  rejected,  called  up  all  the  pride  — 
the  towering  pride  of  her  nature,  to  suppress  her  unfortu- 
nate passion,  or,  at  least,  to  conceal  it  from  the  world. 

She  was  maddened  at  the  thought,  that  in  one  unguarded 
moment,  she  had  betrayed  it ;  but  never !  never,  should 
he  know  the  agony  of  its  death-pangs. 

Alas  !  thou  young  and  seemingly  heaven-favored  maiden, 
thou,  too,  art  doomed  to  wear  the  mask  decreed  to  so 
many  of  thy  unfortunate  sex  —  the  glittering  smile  conceal- 
ing the  darkened  heart,  even  as  the  luminous  atmosphere 
conceals  the  dark  orb  of  the  sun. 

Florence  mingled  in  all  the  varied  sports  of  her  friends — 
conversed  gayly,  and  often  smiled  ;  but  it  was  a  ghastly- 
smile,  which,  to  the  observant  eye,  told  of  a  heart  writhing 
in  agony.  Frequently  her  beautiful  features  twitched  con- 
vulsively, and  large  drops  were  seen  to  gather  in  her  eyes, 
though  she  vainly  strove  to  force  them  back.  Oftentimes, 
too,  her  voice  grew  husky,  with  suppressed  sobs  ;  and  she 
was  become  restless  and  absent-minded,  notwithstanding 
her  efforts  to  seem  gay  and  happy.  If  any  chanced  to 
notice  the  change,  it  was  attributed  to  the  sorrow  she  would 
naturally  feel  at  parting  with  us,  for  she  was  now  daily  ex- 
pecting her  father. 

Oh  !  how  ardently  she  longed  for  his  coming.  Stricken 
and  wounded,  she  pined  to  nestle  in  his  bosom,  and  receive 
his  tender  sympathies. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  113 

How  bitterly  she  reproached  herself,  that  in  the  delirium 
of  her  new  passion,  her  love  for  him  had  grown  so  cold  — 
he  whose  love  for  her  had  never  flickered  or  waned,  but 

"Who  o'er  her  infant  graces  watched 
With  tender  pricle,  and  all  her  sins  of  youth 
In  blindfold  fondness  pardoned." 

There  was  no  longer  a  necessity  for  the  pastor's  avoiding 
her.  He  had  noticed  her  start  of  surprise  and  pain  at  his 
constrained  and  brief  replies  to  her  cordial  and  pleasant 
greetings,  and  his  heart  ached  that  he  had  caused  her  one 
pang. 

Whatever  the  effort  cost  him,  he  resolved  not  to  wound 
her  again,  by  actions  so  strangely  at  variance  with  his 
former  demeanor — he  would  meet  her  as  he  did  the  other 
young  ladies  of  the  institution. 

But  no  opportunity  was  again  given  him — once,  only, 
they  met.  Florence  and  Anna  Greer  were  walking  upon 
the  lawn,  and  their  path  chanced  to  cross  his.  Though 
her  cheek  blanched  somewhat,  she  did  not  shrink  from  the 
meeting,  but  with  a  manner  frigidly  polite  —  she  bowed  — 
and  passed  on. 
10 


114  EARLT  ENGAGEMENTS. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

It  was  an  evening  when  through  the  green  leaves 

Of  the  old  chestnut,  shot  the  golden  light 

Of  the  rich  sunset.  LAN-DOST. 

But  the  vision  was  sealed  upon  my  soul,  and  Its  memory 
is  shrined  in  fragrance.  TUPPEE. 

There  came  a  freshness  on  the  trees, 

Harbinger  of  evening  breeze, 

When  a  sweet,  far  sound  of  song, 

Borne  by  the  breath  of  flowers  along.  LANDOIT. 

IT  was  Florence's  last  evening  at  S valley — on  the 

morrow  her  father  would  arrive  to  convey  her  away  ;  and 
alone  she  wandered  o'er  the  beautiful  domain,  whither 
nearly  three  bright  and  happy  years  had  been  spent.  She 
gazed  with  mournful  earnestness  upon  the  dear,  familiar 
scenes. 

"  Thou  wilt  never  more  salute  mine  eyes,  thou  beautiful 
vision ;  but  so  deeply-  art  thou  ingrained  upon  my  soul,  that 
be  my  habitation  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  from 
thee — yet  wilt  thou  be  ever  present  with  me." 

Almost  unconsciously  she  stood  beneath  the  chestnut 
tree — her  "  rural  studio."  as  she  was  wont  to  term  it,  in 
gayer  and  happier  hours.  She  seated  herself  in  the  old, 
accustomed  seat,  and  her  eyes  turned  with  a  yearning 
glance  to  the  pathway  along  which  she  had  so  often  watched 
for  his  coming. 

It  was  late  in  October,  and  the  chill  breath  of  the  north 
told  fearfully  on  the  old  forest-trees — having  stripped  them, 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  115 

with  rude  violence,  of  their  emerald  mantles — spring's 
beauteous  gift ; — and  the  dried  and  withered  leaves  lay  in 
great  heaps  at  their  bases.  The  breeze,  murmuring  its 
low  and  mournful  plaint  over  the  couch  of  the  dying  year, 
fell  with  a  sad  and  solemn  cadence  on  the  ear.  All !  all 
was  changed,  save  La  Belle  Riviere,  who,  calm  and  placid, 
went  singing  by,  happy  as  when  the  sweet  spring  flowers 
had  bent  their  fragrant  lips  to  its  smile-wreathed  face. 

The  sun  was  fast  being  lost  amid  the  western  hills  ;  she 
gazed  upon  it,  murmuring,  in  tones  hopelessly  sad — "  When 
again  yon  sun  goes  down  to  rest,  many  miles  will  intervene 
between  me  and  this  loved  spot." 

Memory,  like  an  evil  genius,  frequently  goads  the  bleeding 
spirit,  by  recalling  "  former  joys" — no  longer  pleasing,  but 
alas  !  "too  mournful  to  the  soul."  The  last  evening  she 
had  watched  the  declining  sun,  it  was  upon  the  hill-side 
with  the  pastor.  How  painful  the  contrast  between  the 
past  and  the  present  evening.  "  Truly  then,  said  Carrie, 
'  the  sun  is  setting,' — setting  to  me  forever — and  yet  I  knew 
it  not." 

Every  moment  she  became  more  agitated,  until  in  a  wild 
burst  of  grief,  she  threw  herself  upon  the  crisped  and  with- 
ered leaves.  There  was  no  eye  there  to  witness  her  grief — 
therefore  she  gave  free  vent  to  her  long  suppressed  feel- 
ings, "  nor  sought  to  check  the  fearful  pangs  that  bowed 
her  inmost  soul." 

Twilight  gradually  swept  over  the  earth,  yet  still  she  lay 
in  wild  abandonment,  prostrate  upon  the  sod — sobs  ever 
and  anon  bursting  from  her. 

There  came  through  the  forest  aisles  the  faint,  far-off 
murmur  of  song ;  and  the  gentle  tones  stole  down  into  her 


116  EARLT  ENGAGEMENTS. 

heart  with  a  soft  and  irresistible  power — they  were  as  oil 
upon  its  troubled  waters. 

"  What  distant  music  bas  the  power, 
To  win  her,  iu  that  woeful  hour?" 

It  was  the  sweet  evening  hymn  in  which  her  voice  had 
so  often  mingled  with  those  of  her  beloved  classmates. 

She  arose  and  seated  herself  beneath  the  tree,  pressing 
her  hands  upon  her  brow,  which  seemed  girdled  with  iron. 
When  the  last  tones  died  away  in  the  valley,  her  tears 
flowed  afresh,  but  gently -now,  as  the  dew-shower  upon 
the  wilted  flowers.  The  wild  storm  of  grief  was  passed. 
The  breeze  freshened  and  came  athwart  the  diamond 
waves,  cooling  her  burning,  aching  brow  ;  but  still  she  sat 
as  one  transfixed  to  the  spot,  until  the  night  was  far  spent, 
when  some  rustling  sound  amid  the  fallen  leaves,  aroused 
her,  and  springing  up  she  fled  in  haste  to  the  seminary. 
She  was  alarmed,  lest  in  her  protracted  absence,  the  doors 
might  be  closed  for  the  night,  and  she  unable  to  gain  ad- 
mittance to  her  chamber,  but  approaching  a  window,  she 
softly  threw  up  the  sash  and  entered  noiselessly. 

On  regaining  her  room,  another  trial  awaited  her — which 
threatened  to  destroy  her  partially  regained  composure  ; 
Carrie  was  lying  asleep  in  her  bed,  and  the  silvery  moon- 
beams, as  if  enamored  of  her  gentle  beauty,  hung  trem- 
blingly over  her. 

The  contrast  between  Carrie's  happy  Jot,  untraced  by  the 
footsteps  of  sorrow,  and  Tier  own  dark  destiny,  awakened 
for  a  moment  a  host  of  bitter  murmurings. 

She  bent  over  that  fair,  young  face  with  an  earnest — 
almost  an  envious  glance.  Cloudlessly  beautiful  as  an 
infants,  it appeare d  ;  the  highly  cultivated  intellect  breath- 


EARLY  ENGAGEMEITTS.  117 

ing  from  it,  even  in  the  immobility  of  sleep.  Her  cap  -was 
pushed  partly  back,  and  many  a  rich,  brown  curl  had  burst 
from  its  frail  prison.  The  folds  of  muslin,  pure  and  stain- 
less as  the  young  heart  beneath  it,  lay  like  snowdrifts 
upon  the  expanding  beauties  of  her  womanhood,  and  were 
lifted  with,  a  slightly  perceptible  motion  by  her  gentle  res- 
piration. 

"  How  soft  and  sweet  thy  slumbers  are,  dear  Carrie," 
she  mentally  said,  "  not  broken  and  disturbed  by  frightful 
phantoms,  as  mine — no,  no,  thy  gentle  bosom  will  never 
feel  the  'envenomed  dart,'  which  rankles  in  the  breast  of 
thy  wretched  friend — none,  none  can  '  know  thee  but  to 
love  thee,  or  name  thee  but  to  bless.'  ' 

A  hot  tear  fell  upon  the  face  of  the  slumberer,  and  broke 
the  light  sleep  into  which  she  was  fallen.     She  started  up 
bewilderingly,  "Dear  Florence,  whither  have   you  been 
wandering  at  this  late  hour  ?     You  were  not  at  prayers, 
and  after  seeking  for  you  vainly  in  every  place  where  I 
thought  you  would  most  likely  be,  I  at  length  came  here, 
thinking  you  would  soon  return.     I  felt  that  I  must  spend 
this  night  with  you,  and  as  I  lay  musing  on  the  bed,  I  was 
overcome  by  the  lateness  of  the  hour,  I  presume,  and  sank 
to  sleep.     You  were  not  at  prayers,  and  Theodore — " 
"What  of  him?"  said  Florence,  with  a  sudden  start. 
"He  was  there,  and  offered  up  so  sweet  a  prayer  for 
you — the  young  lamb  of  his  flock  as  he  called  you — who 
were  now  about  to  be  removed  from  our  midst,  and  exposed 
to  the  temptations  of  a  wicked  world.     Oh !  it  must  have 
reached  the  ear  to  which  it  was  directed,  and  will  preserve 
you  forever  from  the  contaminating  influence  of  sin.     I 
wish  you  had  been  there.    We  all  wept  and  sobbed  aloud." 


118  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

The  heart  of  Florence  Avas  softened  at  this  affecting 
proof  of  the  affection  of  her  shoolfellows — then  with  some 
bitterness  she  replied:  "I  am  truly  under  lasting  obliga- 
tions to  Mr.  Neville  for  the  interest  he  manifests  in  my 
future  welfare."  Changing  the  conversation  with  a  sud- 
denness habitual  to  her,  for  her  mind  darted  with  a 
rapidity  from  subject  to  subject,  quite  startling  to  those  of  a 
calmer  and  steadier  flow  of  thought,  she  said:  "I  have 
been  to-night  to  all  our  favorite  haunts.  I  would  'bear 
away  the  precious  picture,'  '  to  keep  through  life' — but  my 
brain  reels,  Carrie  !  my  temples  throb  with  pain.  I  long  to 
lie  beside  you,  and  feel  your  arms  about  me,  and  then  I 
shall  be  well." 

Carrie  hastily  assisted  her  to  undress,  saying:  "How 
damp  your  clothes  are,  Florence !  and  how  pale  you  are !" 
she  added,  as  Florence  sank  down  upon  the  bed  and  the 
moon  shone  over  her  pallid  brow.  "  You  have  acted  very 
unwisely  in  remaining  so  long  in  the  chill  night  air." 

The  next  morning,  Florence  was  suffering  much  from 
her  imprudent  exposure  of  the  night  previous.  She  arose 
with  a  violent  pain  in  her  head,  and  with  scarce  sufficient 
strength  to  complete  her  preparations  for  leaving  ;  but  her 
anxiety  to  be  freed  from  the  torturing  restraints  of  that 
place,  induced  her  to  conceal  her  illness. 

A  few  hours  later,  a  carriage  drove  rapidly  up  the  gra- 
veled walk  and  Florence  was  once  more  clasped  to  the 
bosom  of  her  father;  and  for  a  time,  the  joy  of  being 
again  with  him  caused  a  transient  respite  of  her  sorrows. 

Tears  of  rapture  coursed  over  the  wan  and  sunken  cheek 
of  her  father,  as  he  gazed  upon  her  expanded  and  fully 
matured  womanhood.  Even  his  unbounded  expectation^ 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  119 

were  more  than  realized,  in  her  dazzling  beauty,  exquisite 
grace,  and  fine  mental  attainments.  The  full  wealth  of  a 
nobly  generous  heart  was  poured  out  on  Mrs.  Ormond  for 
her  tender  care  of  his  orphan  daughter. 

He  had  brought  magnificent  presents  for  the  friends, 
whose  kindness  she  had  never  failed  to  mention  in  her  let- 
ters ;  and  among  them  there  was  a  Bible,  glittering  with 
the  splendor  of  its  binding,  and  clasped  with  golden  fasten- 
ings, upon  one  of  which  the  name  of  "FLORENCE  DE  LISLE" 
was  handsomely  engraved.  It  was  designed  for  the  pastor, 
and  was  given  into  Carrie's  hands  to  deliver — he,  as 
Florence  rightly  conjectured,  having  remained  purposely 
away — but  from  far  different  motives,  than  those  attributed 
by  her.  In  vain  he  had  sought  to  nerve  himself  to  "pay 
the  parting  call,"  but  felt  his  insufficiency  of  self-control  to 
conceal  the  painful  emotions  their  final  separation  would 
arouse. 

Her  adieus  were  made  with  her  teachers  and  class- 
mates— and  even  she,  who  during  the  whole  term  of  their 
acquaintance,  had  manifested  the  most  implacable  dislike 
to  Florence,  now  on  the  eve  of  their  parting,  relented  and 
besought  forgiveness  for  all  past  rudeness  and  harshness. 
She  paused  for  the  last  time  on  the  threshold  to  gaze 
round  the  school-room,  and  all  its  loved  occupants — then 
passed  with  a  rapid  step  along  the  hall  leading  to  the  por- 
tico— whither  her  father,  Mrs.  Ormond  and  Carrie  were 
waiting  for  her. 

It  was  growing  late,  and  Mr.  Delisle  had  become  impa- 
tient to  be  gone,  in  order  to  reach  the  city  in  time  for  the 
evening  "packet." 

Another  had  been  added  to  the  group  in  her  absence. 


120  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

When  she  stepped  forth,  her  eye  rested  on  the  form  of  Mr. 
Neville,  who  was  conversing  with  her  father.  She  faltered, 
then  shrank  nervously  back;  her  frame  shaken  with  most 
violent  agitation.  "  Not  until  the  last  moment,  has  he 
deigned  to  pay  the  respect,  which  the  most  indifferent  of 
my  acquaintances  have  not  failed  to  do."  Her  faltering 
limbs  were  endowed  with  a  sudden  strength,  and  drawing 
her  form  proudly  up,  with  the  step  of  a  queen  she  advanced 
toward  him. 

Calmly  and  coldly  she  placed  her  hand  within  his,  and 
in  tones  singularly  clear  'and  distinct,  bade  him — adieu ; 
reiterating  her  assurances  of  gratitude  for  all  past  favors. 

Those  lips,  so  eloquent,  were  closed  as  though  with  the 
seal  of  the  grave.  Not  a  sound  escaped  from  them,  as  he 
bowed  his  tall  form  to  the  cold  hand  clasped  in  his,  and 
pressed  it  to  them. 

"  Is  it  thus  we  part!"  thought  she,  "  with  not  a  word  of 
sorrow,  or  regret,  or  hope,  or  wish  to  meet  again !"  She 
was  clasped  in  Mrs.  Ormond's  and  Carrie's  arms  in  time  to 
sustain  her  drooping  form ;  and  the  wild  shriek  of  agony 
that  burst  from  the  very  depths  of  her  heart  was  attributed 
to  sorrow  at  parting  with  them — not  him — to  whom,  a  mo- 
ment before,  she  had  paid  her  parting  regards  with  so 
much  apparent  indifference. 

Stupefied  with  grief,  she  was  lifted  into  the  carriage 
and  borne  rapidly  away.  One  moment  she  leaned  forward 
to  catch  a  last  look  at  the  spot,  whose  associations  marked 
the  brightest  and  bitterest  eras  of  her  life.  Carrie  was 
weeping  convulsively  upon  her  brother's  bosom;  and  his 
face  was  still  toward  them  ;  but  its  agonized  expression  and 
deadly  pallor  were  lost  in  the  distance. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  121 

Deep  sobs  and  groans  burst  from  her,  and  her  hands 
were  wrung  frenziedly,  as  though  her  reason  were  entirely- 
vanished. 

Her  father  was  painfully  agitated  by  witnessing  her 
violent  manifestations  of  sorrow,  and  twining  his  arms  about 
her,  sought  to  soothe  her  by  saying  that  the  separation 
from  her  beloved  friends,  was  not  one  of  endless  duration, 
but  that  every  summer  she  should  return  and  spend  many 
weeks  in  the  charming  valley  of  S . 

Finding  that  this  afforded  no  consolation,  but  on  the  con- 
trary, seemed  to  increase  her  sorrow  to  a  yet  more  fearful 
height,  he  changed  the  theme,  hoping  to  lead  her  thoughts 
away  from  the  recent  painful  events. 

He  told  her  of  the  various  improvements  he  had  made 
irutheir  home  during  her  absence,  and  of  others  contem- 
plated ;  but  which  he  had  delayed  having  put  into  execu- 
tion until  they  should  receive  her  sanction.  "  You  have 
not  once  asked  me  of  Henri,"  said  he,  with  a  peculiar 
smile.  "He  is  most  impatient,  I  can  assure  you,  for  your 
arrival ;  and  would  have  accompanied  me,  so  anxious  is 
he  to  see  you,  but  that  owing  to  his  long  absence,  his  busi- 
ness demanded  his  personal  attention.  Cannot  you  imag- 
ine his  delighted  surprise  on  finding  you,  whom  he  parted 
with,  a  sickly  little  girl,  grown  into  womanhood  in  the  inte- 
rim, and  so  much  changed  and  improved  ?  Indeed,  the 
change  has  been  almost  as  wondrous,  as  that  wrought  by. 
the  good  fairy,  on  the  heroine  of  the  pleasant  little  story, 
he  used  to  read  to  you  when  you  were  children. 

"  He,  too,  is  vastly  improved  and  polished  by  his  foreign 
tour,  and  will  have  many  interesting  things  to  relate  to  you 

of  the  lands  he  visited ;  though  he  says  his  thoughts,  true 
11 


122  EAKLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

as  the  needle  to  the  pole,  turned  ever  away  from  the  beau- 
tiful scenes  of  the  European  continent,  to  a  certain  valley, 
hid  in  among  the  hills  of  the  Ohio.  He  proposes  to  return 
thither  with  you  at  some  future  time,  and  perhaps,  I  too, 
may  accompany  you.  " 

He  was  talking  to  the  winds — she  heard  not  a  word  of 
all  he  had  said — but  still  wept  passionately  and  unrestrain- 
edly. 

Changing  his  tone  to  one  of  surprise  and  reproach,  he 
told  her  he  was  almost  tempted  to  think  her  affection  for 
her  new  friends  had  absorbed  that  for  the  two  beings  who 
were  nearer,  and  therefore  should  be  dearer  to  her  than  all 
others — "  your  father,  and  he  who  is  so  soon  to  be  your 
husband." 

She  was  calmed  instantaneously — looking  up  with  a  ]je- 
wildered  stare,  as  though  she  did  not  rightly  comprehend 
his  meaning. 

"Forgive  my  unmerited  reproaches,"  said  her  father. — 
"Well  do  I  know  that  there  are  none  who  can  ever  be  to 
you  as  the  two  who  have,  from  your  infancy,  until  a  brief 
period  since,  shared  all  your  joys  and  sorrows.  But  I  am 
overcome  by  your  grief.  Can  you  not,  will  you  not  cheer  up 
for  my  sake,  and  smile  again  upon  me  as  you  did  this 
morning,  on  my  arrival  ?  You  do  not  know— none  may 
ever  know,  how  I  have  pined  through  all  my  dreary  ill- 
•ness ;  when  the  dark  wings  of  death  hovered  closely  over 
me,  for  the  blessed  moment  to  arrive  when  I  should  once 
more  be  sunned  by  your  smiles,  and  cheered  by  your 
bright  and  joyous  presence.  Judge  then  of  my  sorrow, 
when  at  the  very  moment  I  am  seeking  to  restore  my  song- 
bird to  its  native  home,  to  fill  with  music  the  long  deserted 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  123 

place,  I  find  it  drooping  and  pining  at  being  removed  from 
a  foreign  clime." 

He  continued  talking  of  his  physical  afflictions,  until 
Florence's  generous  heart  became  touched  by  the  recital, 
and  by  witnessing  how  rapidly  the  infirmities  of  age  were 
coming  upon  him,  and  she  stifled  her  sorrows  to  minister  to 
his. 

If,  when  he  had  first  spoken  of  her  marriage  to  Henri 
Soule,  she  was  about  to  declare  her  emphatic  determination 
never  to  marry,  and  was  only  restrained  by  fears  that  he 
might  suspect  the  fatal  secret  of  her  bosom,  from  that 
and  the  violence  of  her  grief ;  she  now  resolved,  in  consid- 
eration of  his  infirm  health,  to  spare  him  the  pain  she  saw 
a  knowledge  of  her  decision  would  occasion. 

Florence  found  that  change  of  place  did  not  free  her 

from  the  restraint  she  was  forced  to  be  under  at  S ,  but 

that  the  mask  there  worn  must  still,  and  ever,  press  her 
weary  brow.  Amid  the  gay  and  lively  society  of  a  densely 
crowded  boat,  she  must  not  attract  attention  by  her  pro- 
found and  hopeless  melancholy — her  sorrow  was  of  too 
sacred  a  nature  to  be  exposed  to  the  profane  eyes  of  the 
coldly  indifferent  stranger. 

The  excitement  of  the  voyage,  too,  tended  somewhat  to 
dissipate  her  gloom.  There  was  much  to  charm  her  as  she 
floated  over  the  soft  bosom  of  the  Ohio,  in  its  varied  scene 
of  hill  and  dell,  ravine  and  valley,  cities,  towns,  villages, 
farms,  and  magnificent  forests ;  its  numerous  tributaries  pour- 
ing in  their  sparkling  floods  as  incense  to  its  beauty,  until  its 
weary  wanderings  are  at  length  ended,  and  its  existence 
lost  on  the  bosom  of  the  great  Father — this  forms  a  panorama 


124  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

of  the  beautiful  which  would  cause  pleasure  to  the  soul, 
however  deeply  steeped  in  sorrow. 

On,  on  she  is  borne,  away  to  those  genial  skies,  where 
the  leaves  wither  not — nor  fade ! 

'•  Green  with  the  sweet  earth's  southern  youth, 
And  azure  with  her  southern  skies." 

Gauging  Henri's  affection  by  hers,  she  supposed  a  few 
weeks  would  undeceive  him  in  regard  to  its  nature;  and 
the  engagement,  so  foolishly  entered  into,  would  be  severed 
by  mutual  consent.  She,  therefore,  met  him  with  the  frank 
pleasure  of  a  sister,  who  had  long  been  absent. 

It  was  evening  when  their  long  and  weary  journey  drew 
to  a  close;  and  Mr.  Delisle,  overcome  with  fatigue,  was 
lifted  from  the  carriage  by  his  faithful  servants,  and  borne 
into  the  drawing-room  for  a  temporary  repose  before  retir- 
ing to  his  chamber. 

Under  the  full  blaze  of  the  chandelier,  Florence  threw 
off  her  closely-vailed  traveling  bonnet  and  mantles,  and 
Stood  before  Henri  Soule. 

He  gazed  on  her  breathlessly — seeking  for  some  trace 
of  the  invalid  girl  he  had  parted  with  a  few  years  since,  in 
the  splendid  woman  before  him ;  then  folding  her  long  and 
closely  to  his  bosom,  his  lips  were  pressed  to  every  part  of 
her  beautiful  face. 

"Harry!  Harry!"  exclaimed  Florence,  endeavoring  to 
extricate  herself  from  the  embrace,  .whose  warmth  she 
could  not  return,  and  therefore  from  which  she  shrank  in 
horror ;  "  your  welcome  is  by  far  too  ardent — you  will  suf- 
focate me  in  your  joy  at  this  meeting." 

He  led  her  to  a  seat,  and  sitting  beside  her,  bent  over 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  125 

her  with  passionate  tenderness,  clasping  her  hand  in  his 
while  his  other  arm  fondly  girdled  her  waist;  then  with 
"love's  own  peculiar  eloquence,"  he  told  her  of  the  happiness 
the  present  moment  afforded  him — of  all  the  tortures  of  his 
exile  from  her — unrelieved  even  by  that  sweet  interchange 
of  thought  and  feeling  which  correspondence  affords, 

Tears  of  joy  trickled  down  Mr.  Delisle's  withered  cheek 
as  his  gaze  rested  on  the  young  couple,  and  the  low  mur- 
mur of  their  voices  reached  him. 

Florence's  eyes  fell  beneath  Henry's  passionate  glances, 
for  well  she  knew  they  could  not  meet  the  response  they 
sought.  As  the  strength,  and  constancy,  and  tenderness 
of  his  affection  became  known  to  her,  an  additional  weight 
of  sorrow  pressed  her  already  aching  heart. 

"  Is  it  mine, "  thought  she,  "  to  plunge  the  poisoned 
arrow  into  his  bosom  ?  that  bosom  which,  since  my  earliest 
infancy,  has  been  my  shield  and  refuge  in  trouble?  O 
Harry !  Harry  !  are  you,  too,  doomed  to  wander  the  earth 
in  'the  black  darkness  of  hopeless  despair?'  Must  my 
hand  inflict  the  fatal  wound?" 

She  was  fast  losing  her  self-control ;  and  sending  her  tea 
away  untasted,  she  ordered  a  light  and  arose,  saying:  "I 
am  weary — so  weary,  Harry ;  pardon  me  if,  to-night,  I  pre- 
fer repose  to  your  society." 

They  went  together  to  Mr.  Delisle,  who  was  still  reclin- 
ing on  the  sofa ;  kneeling  by  his  side,  Florence  wound  her 
arms  about  him,  kissing  him  several  times,  then  murmured 
in  low  and  choking  tones:  "Good  night,  papa." 

*'  Good  night !  my  beloved  children,"  said  he ;  "  the  hap- 
piness of  the  present  moment  is  almost  too  much  for  me. 
You  are  both  restored  to  me,  never,  never  to  leave  me  more ; 


126  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

the  clouds,  which  hovered  darkly  over  me  in  your  absence, 
have  passed  away,  and  I  feel  that  my  sun  of  life  shall  set 
in  a  halo  of  brightness." 

Florence  was  tremulous  with  agitation;  Henri  assisted 
her  to  arise,  and  accompanied  her  to  the  door.  Withdraw- 
ing her  arm  from  his,  in  half-audible  tones  she  bade  him 
"  Good  night." 

"  You  would  not  part  thus  coldly  after  our  long  separa- 
tion?" said  he,  half  reproachfully. 

Her  face  was  averted,  therefore  he  saw  not  its  anguished 
expression — saw  not  that  its  carnation  was  fled  and  a 
ghastly  pallor  overshadowed  it — nor  did  he  see,  when  it 
was  turned  slowly  and  mechanically  round,  that  her  lips 
quivered  beneath  the  warm  pressure  of  his. 

She  reached  the  stairway,  and  leaned  against  the  railing 
to  collect  her  faltering  strength  ere  she  attempted  to  mount 
the  steps  to  proceed  to  her  chamber. 

A  servant  removed  her  clothes,  and  prepared  her  for 
the  nightly  couch,  adjusting  its  satin  coverings  and  curtains 
about  her,  after  she  retired.  Thoughts  of  her  own  little 
room  in  the  Seminary  came  to  her,  and  of  the  times 
when,  wearied  by  the  exercises  of  the  day,  she,  unaided, 
threw  from  her  her  clothes,  and  springing  lightly  into  bed, 
with  none  to  arrange  its  snowy  coverlet,  but  which  proved 
sweet  as  a  "bed  of  roses,"  was  soon  lost  in  the  golden 
mists  of  youth's  dreamland.  Then  her  thoughts  returned 
to  the  gloomy  present. 

"  I  am  under  the  influence  of  some  horrible  dream.  It 
cannot,  cannot  be  reality."  A  strange  sensation  pervaded 
her — a  kind  of  paralysis  of  her  whole  being. 

"I   am    suffocating,"   said    she  aloud,   springing  up. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  127 

"Loop  back  these  curtains,  Fanny — I  am  unused  to  them — 
they  suffocate  me." 

Seeing  the  servant  preparing  to  sleep  in  her  chamber, 
she  requested  to  be  left  alone — "  You  may  sleep  in  the 
adjoining  room,  and  if  I  need  your  services,  I  shall  let  you 
know." 

Fanny  thought  strangely  enough  of  the  orders,  for  pre- 
vious to  her  young  mistress'  leaving  home,  she,  or  some 
other  servant  had  always  slept  in  her  room. 

Once  left  alone,  Florence  arose  from  the  bed,  which  de- 
spite its  downy  softness,  was  one  of  thorns  to  her,  and 
sitting  down  by  the  window,  through  which  the  cold,  gray, 
spectral  light  of  a  November's  night,  was  faintly  gleaming, 
she  bowed  her  head  in  hopeless  sorrow. 

"  Oh  !  that  I  could  weep  out  these  burning  tears,  which, 
are  scalding,  searing  my  heart." 

It  would  at  all  times  have  been  painful  to  one  of 
Florence's  generously  sensitive  nature,  to  inflict  the  pain 
consequent  upon  a  rejection  of  the  homage  of  a  truly  de- 
voted heart — but  when  her  own  spirit  was  bowed  to  the 
dust  by  a  similar  sorrow,  she  shrank  back  in  nervous 
horror  from  inflicting  like  suffering  upon  another,  and  espe- 
cially one  so  dear  as  Henry  Soule. 

"But  it  cannot  be  avoided — I  rely  on  his  generous 
nature  to  release  me  from  an  engagement,  made  truly  in 
good  faith,  but  which  subsequent  events  have  taught  me 
I  am  unable  to  fulfill.  But  not  on  you  alone,  Harry,  my 
brother,  will  this  fall  grievously — My  father  ! — Oh  !  how 
will  he  bear  the  disappointment  of  this,  which  is,  and  has 
been  for  years,  he  has  told  me,  the  dearest  wish  of  his 
heart ;  and  to  whose  fulfillment  he  looked  forward  even  in 


128  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

my  childhood,  as  the  crowning  glory  of  his  life.  In  crush- 
ing  these  long  cherished  hopes,  I  shall  '  bring  down  his 
gray  hairs  in  sorrow  to  the  tomb' — yes,  I  his  darling  may 
prove  his  murderess — and  will  they  not  suspect — "  her 
lips  closed  tightly  as  though  to  shut  out  from  hitman  ear, 
that,  they  were  about  to  divulge. 

"Never  !  never,  shall  my  humiliation  be  known — any- 
thing— everything  may  be  borne  but  that."  She  paced 
with  a  frenzied  step,  her  gloomy  chamber.  Not  a  ray 
penetrated  her  mind's  dark  chaos  to  enlighten  her  how 
to  act  in  a  situation  so  strangely  painful  and  trying. 

Exhausted,  and  almost  fainting,  she  flung  herself  upon 
the  bed  and  sank  into  fitful  slumbers.  When  the  first 
beams  of  the  sun  sported  gayly  amid  the  glossy  leaves  of 
the  orange  trees,  kissing  away  the  tears,  night  had  wept  in 
his  absence.  Florence  awoke — the  song  of  the  lark  had 
been,  for  the  last  three  years,  her  signal  for  rising.  But 
the  stillness  of  death  pervaded  the  lofty  chambers  of  her 
father's  mansion,  and  ^she  remembered  their  breakfast 
hour  was  at  a  late  period  of  the  day. 

Again  she  sank  to  sleep — a  deep,  profound,  lethargic 
sleep,  as  though  caused  by  morphine,  and  from  which  she 
did  not  awaken  until  the  sun  had  passed  the  meridian. 

The  African  nurse,  who  had  in  her  childhood,  supplied 
the  place  of  her  deceased  mother,  stood  at  the  bedside  with 
refreshments;  and  informed  her  that  a  number  of  old 
friends,  waving  all  etiquette,  had  hastened  to  see  her,  and 
were  then  assembled  in  the  drawing-room,  awaiting  impa- 
tiently her  appearance. 

She  arose  with  fainting  limbs,  and  a  leaden  heart. 
As  the  events  of  the  night  passed  in  review  before  her,  she 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  129 

could  now  more  clearly  determine  the  proper  course  to 
pursue.  She  would  at  once  acquaint  Henry  with  the  utter 
impossibility  of  ever  being  more  than  a  sister  to  him  ;  and 
urge  the  necessity  of  keeping  her  father  in  ignorance  of 
that  fact,  until  his  health  was  re-established. 

This  decision  partially  relieved  her  mind  ;  and  the  fra- 
grant bath  her  nurse  prepared  for  her,  and  the  pleasurable 
anticipation  of  meeting  old  friends,  quite  revived  her. 
With  Fanny's  assistance  she  was  soon  arrayed  for  their 
reception. 

Meanwhile,  Henry  had  risen  earlier  than  usual ;  and 
after  pacing  the  balcony  impatiently  for  some  hours,  he 
entered  the  library,  and  endeavored  to  beguile  away  the 
time  with  a  newspaper,  until  Florence  should  join  him. 

At  length  when  his  patience  was  worn  quite  threadbare, 
the  low  rustle  of  silk,  and  the  sound  of  a  light  footstep  on 
the  stairs,  fell  most  musically  on  his  ears.  He  advanced 
to  the  door  to  meet  her,  and  drew  her  with  gentle  force 
into  the  library,  that  they  might  be  a  moment  alone  before 
joining  their  guests. 

After  some  inquiries  in  regard  to  the  effect  of  her  long 
and  fatiguing  journey  upon  her  health ;  he  expressed,  in  no 
very  amiable  terms,  his  displeasure  at  the  intrusion  of 
visitors  upon  their  privacy.  Florence  submitted  to  his 
caresses  with  less  reluctance  than  upon  the  preceding 
evening — doubtless,  thinking  of  the  bitter  draught  he  must 
soon  receive  at  her  hands. 

The  magnificent  drawing-rooms  of  Mr.  De  Lisle,  re-echoed 
with  the  sounds  of  laughter,  and  song,  and  conversation ; 
and  the  evening  was  apparently  a  happy  one  to  all.  The 
sparkle  of  Florence's  wit,  gave  zest  to  the  conversation; 


130  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

relieving  it  of  the  usual  dull  monotony  of  fashionable 
chat. 

Mr.  De  Lisle,  with  the  fondness  of  parental  love,  could 
not  resist  calling  the  attention  of  all  to  the  contrast  between 
the  blooming  beauty,  and  free  graceful  motions  of  his 
daughter,  and  the  leaden-eyed,  sallow-cheeked,  languish- 
ing movements  of  the  young  ladies  who  were  present. 

"  You  now  perceive  the  wisdom  of  my  advice,  Mrs. 
Hartgrove.  Had  Ann  Maria  and  Lucy  enjoyed  the  bene- 
fit of  the  northern  breezes,  they  would  now  be  as  blooming, 
and  as  full  of  life  and  spirit  as  my  Florence.  Why,  my 
dear  madam,  there  is  not  a  song-bird  of  the  forest,  with  a 
gayer,  lighter  heart  than  she.  Ill  health  is  a  natural  ac- 
companiment to  old  age,  and  as  such  may  be  endured 
stoically  ;  but  its  withering  breath  makes  sad  ravages  on 
the  spirits  of  youth." 

Florence  was  endeavoring  to  hold  in  leash  her  wandering 
thoughts,  and  to  conceal  her  scorn  of,  and  reply  courteously 
to,  the  senseless  commonplaces  of  one  who  sat.  beside  her, 
when  the  remarks  of  her  father,  uttered  with  such  a  re- 
markable degree  of  self-felicitation,  fell  upon  her  ear. 

"Light  heart!"  thought  she,  with  sarcastic  bitterness, 
"  with  what  wondrous  powers  of  divination,  we  mortals 
are  endowed.  What  have  I  gained  by  my  northern  resi- 
dence? a " 

"  Miss  De  Lisle!  Miss  De  Lisle!"  was  re-echoed  from  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  room,  "  obligingly  favor  us  with 
another  song  from  La  Norma." 

There  is  more,  perhaps,  of  truth  in  the  trite  old  proverb, 
"  appearances  are  oftentimes  deceitful,"  than  in  the  figur- 
ative expression,  "  the  tree  is  known  by  its  fruit.  "  The 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  131 

tree  may  not  always  be  known  by  its  fruits.  Often  when 
girdled  to  the  .death  by  the  destroyer's  ax,  it  puts  forth 
fresh  verdure,  and  every  bough  is  crowned  with  "leafy 
honors."  The  sparkling  glance,  and  the  brilliant  flush, 
are  not  more  oft  an  indication  of  health,  than  of  the 
cankerworm  of  disease.  Nor  do  the  smile  wreaths  of  the 
face,  always  betoken  a  heart  enshrined  in  smiles  ;  but 
are,  as  the  outer  surface  of  the  Syrian  apple — whose  heart 
is  ashes.  Frequently,  she  whose  laugh  is  most  musical, 
whose  smile  is  brightest,  whose  lips  are  freighted  with 
joyous  words,  and  mirth-provoking  sentiments,  bears  within, 
a  heart  whose  fires  are  wasted,  and  but  the  hardened  lava 
of  desolation  remains. 

We  but  betray  our  ignorance  then  by  saying,  "How 
happy — or  how  miserable."  Whose  vision,  save  that  of 
the  "  All-Seeing  Eye,"  alone,  may  penetrate  the  surface 
into  the  heart's  depths,  and  see  it  as  it  is.  Ours  is  a  world 
of  seeming — scarce  do  we  open  our  lips  to  exchange  the 
commonplace  civilities  of  society,  without  adding  to  the 
already  swelling  list  of  sins  marked  down  against  us  in  the 
Book  of  Life.  In  the  social  circle,  he  who  is  perchance 
"its  bright  particular  star,"  who  is  pronounced  the  gay, 
the  jovial,  the  happy  hearted  ;  is  the  restless,  wretched 
ennui  of  the  unexciting  family  circle  ;  and  whose  innocent 
joy  he  paralyzes  by  his  presence.  And  again,  he  who  is 
oft  accounted  of  the  "  gay  world"  as  the  coldly  reserved, 
the  discontented,  the  unhappy,  is  the  glorious  sun  of  some 
domestic  world,  to  whom  youth  looks  up  for  light  to  guide 
its  wayward  steps — the  middle  aged  for  strength  and  sup- 
port in  the  dark  conflicts  of  life — and  in  whose  rays  even 
old  age  basks  pleasantly. 


132  EAKLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 


CHAPTER     X. 

Proud,  beautiful,  she  boweth  down 

Beneath  one  deep  despair ; 
Youth  lingers  on  her  lovely  che«k, 

It  only  lingers  there — 
She  will  command  herself  and  bear 

The  doom  by  fate  assigned ; 
In  natures  high  as  hers,  the  Jteart 

Is  mastered  by  the  mind. 

But  not  the  less  'tis  desolate, 

All  lofty  thoughts  and  dreams; 
The  poetry  with  whose  deep  life 

All  stronger  feeling  teems, 
These  aggravate  the  ill,  and  give 

A  misery  of  their  own, 
The  gifted  spirit  suffers  much, 

To  caramon  ones  unknown, 

I  am  gay — but  such  a  light — shines  upon  the  grave  by  night. 

FOR  several  succeeding  weeks,  the  festivities  in  honor  of 
her  return  occupied  all  of  Florence's  time,  save  the  small 
remnant  devoted  to  repose — but  the  stillness  of  that  night 
time,  was  most  often  broken  by  half  smothered  groans, 
and  sighs  of  agony.  Even  tears — "delicious  tears,  the 
heart's  own  dew,"  were  denied  her;  there  were  none  to  re- 
lieve her  arid  grief. 

Nor  was  the  present  gay  season,  one  in  which  to  have 
an  explanation  with  Harry.  Full  too  well  was  she  aware 
of  the  desolation  of  spirit  it  would  cause ;  and  she  looked 
forward  to  the  result  on  one  of  so  ardent  and  inflammable  a 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  133 

temperament,  with    painful,   and    daily   increasing   appre- 
hensions. 

"And  my  father  too — my  stricken,  suffering  father — oh! 
what  must  be  his  indignation,  on  learning  that  his  child — 
the  '  last  scion'  of  his  proud  and  honorable  line,  after  hav- 
ing for  years,  encouraged  the  love  of  one  whom  he  deems 
as  most  Avorthy  of  her — now  basely  deserts  him — rejecting 
his  love — and  wasting  the  swelling  tide  of  her  affections 
upon  one  whom  he  looks  down  on  with  scorn  as  beneath 
her;  but  who,"  she  added,  with  a  most  beautiful  enthusiasm, 
"  is  as  far,  far  above  her  in  all  the  essentials  of  true  eleva- 
tion, as  are  those  'starry  hosts  of  Heaven'  above  the  noisome 
earth.  At  all  hazards,"  said  she,  after  a  long  and  fearful 
pause,  "  he  must  not  yet  know  of  this — he  is  too  feeble  to 
bear  an  accession  of  troubles." 

Keturning  late  one  evening  from  a  grand  dinner  party, 
she  and  Harry,  as  was  their  usual  custom  before  retiring, 
went  to  the  chamber  of  the  invalid.  Florence  with  an  ap- 
parent recklessness  of  animal  spirits,  hoping  perhaps,  to 
relieve  the  monotony  of  the  sick  room ;  or  more,  perhaps, 
to  conceal  the  wild  fires  that  were  consuming  the  spring- 
time verdure  of  her  heart,  gave  a  most  graphic  and  amus- 
ing description  of  the  occurrences  of  the  evening — bringing 
all  her  powers  of  ridicule,  to  bear  on  the  attentions  of  some 
"luckless  wights,"  whose  milk-and-water  brains,  and  highly 
susceptible  hearts,  had  been  quite  upset  by  her  dazzling 
beauty. 

Her  father  smilingly  listened  to  their  gay  and  animated 
conversation  ;  quite  forgetful  of  his  afflictions,  in  partici- 
pating in  the  happiness  of  these  young  and  loving  hearts, 
as  he  thought,  and  replied ;  "  Ah !  well  Florie,  you  do  well 


134  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

to  laugh  to  scorn,  the  love  of  these  enamored  swains, 
secure  as  you  are  in  Harry's  love — and  surely  the  proudest 
maiden  in  Christendom  might  well  exult  over  such  a 
treasure.  Do  you  .know,  Henry,  there  is  no  one  whom  I 
ever  saw  or  knew,  save  yourself,  on  whom  I  would  freely 
bestow  my  heart's  jewel.  But  you  will  bear  with  her,  if 
she  be  at  times  somewhat  willful  and  impetuous,  knowing 
that  the  fault  is  mine,  not  hers.  Let  her  errors  rest  on 
my  head,  for  I  have  spoiled  her.  Language  fails  me  to 
express  the  intense  happiness  of  this  hour ;  for  now,  the 
doubts,  and  fears,  and  anxieties,  which  for  years  oppressed 
me,  are  flung  aside,  since  I  see  you  loving  and  happy — 
all  in  all  to  each  other — I  may  laugh  at  those  foolish  fears 
now,  Henry;  but  when  you  were  children,  dearly,  much  as 
I  longed  for  your  union  when  you  should  arrive  at  the 
proper  age,  I  dared  not  express  my  wishes,  lest  you  might 
rebel  against  them;  might  turn  from  my  fragile  and  languish- 
ing flower,  to  one  of  greater  beauty  and  brilliancy — or  that 
Florence,  with  that  perverse  and  willful  little  temper  of 
hers,  might  refuse  to  submit  to  my  dictation.  But  all  things 
have  conspired  to  my  heart's  satisfaction  ;  and  as  my  sands 
of  life  are  running  low,  I  would,  ere  I  go  hence,  witness 
the  final  consummation  of  my  desires." 

Florence  gazed  wildly — heart-breakingly  upon  him,  as 
he  continued  to  urge  their  immediate  union  ;  then  her  head 
drooped  forward  like  a  leaden  weight  to  her  hands,  and 
her  whole  frame  was  violently  convulsed  for  a  moment — 
then  became  still  and  calm,  as  though  suddenly  changed 
into  marble. 

She  did  not  hear  Harry's  ardent  expressions  of  gratitude 
to  Mr.  De  Lisle,  nor  his  solemn  promise  of  how  sacredly  he 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  135 

would  g-uard  the  treasure  given  to  him,  nor  his  eloquent 
appeal  to  her,  that  as  all  things  were  now  ready,  their  mar- 
riage should  no  longer  be  delayed. 

All  unheeding,  she  knew  not  that  they  were  waning  a 
reply.  At  length,  Mr.  De  Lisle,  somewhat  alarmed  at  her 
silent  agony,  placed  his  hand  on  her  bowed  head,  and 
inquired;  "What  have  I  said,  Florence,  to  affect  you  thus?" 

She  was  roused  from  her  stupefaction,  and  with  the 
quick  intuition  of  woman,  saw  the  only  means  by  which 
their  attention  might  be  directed  from  its  true  cause,  and 
the  proposed  union  indefinitely  postponed. 

Lifting  her  blanched  face  upward,  she  exclaimed;  "You 
must  not — shall  not  speak  to  me  of  dying,  papa.  The 
thought  frenzies  me" — then  twining  her  arms  about  him 
lovingly,  she  pressed  her  soft  cheek  closely  to  Ms ;  and  as 
tears  started  to  her  wildly  brilliant  eyes,  she  continued 
with  an  effort  to  smile  through  them,  "  I  cannot  but  smile, 
papa,  at  your  ideas  of  woman's  destiny.  You  seem  to 
think  she  was  created  just  to  be  a  delver  in  books  for  a 
certain  length  of  time,  and  then  immediately  enter  into 
bonds  matrimonial.  How  shameful  of  you,  after  having 
condemned  me  to  the  dreary  monotony  of  a  boarding- 
school  life,  for  three  years,  to  insist,  at  the  moment  of  my 
emancipation,  on  my  marrying  and  '  settling  down,'  as  the 
old  folks  say — thereby  depriving  me  of  tasting  the  plea- 
sures which  are  so  highly  enjoyed  at  my  age.  Your  fond- 
ness for  me  has  blinded  you  to  my  imperfections — I  am 
not,  dear  papa,  superior  to  that  weakness  of  my  sex,  which 
sighs  for  unlimited  conquest  over  yours.  You  and  Henry 
would  have  me  think  I  am  beautiful — now  I  would  test 
the  power  (so  highly  lauded  by  you)  of  these  charms,  on 


136  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

the  '  lords  of  creation.'  I  used  to  regale  myself  during 
my  gloomy  incarceration,  with  the  idea,  of  a  future  series 
of  brilliant  conquests  in  the  gay  world,  and  I  cannot  forego 
these  anticipated  delights.  Cannot,  cannot  acquiesce  in 
your  proposition." 

"We  will  accompany  Col.  Le  Grand's  family  to  the  city;" 
said  she,  with  a  most  rapid  enunciation,  "  and  while  I 
am  pursuing  my  work  of  destruction  and  Harry  is  luxuri- 
ating in  the  brilliant  smiles,  and  melting  glances  of 
our  southern  belles — the  society  of  your  old  and  valued 
friends  who  reside  there  —  and  above  all  the  eminent 

services  of  Dr.  R ,  will  completely  restore  you  to 

health  and  spirits ;  and  when  spring  returns,  I  shall,  after 
having  wept  a  few  tears,  a  la  Alexander,  at  my  perfect  and 
entire  victory,  return  home,  and " 

She  paused,  her  lips  refusing  to  utter  the  base  falsehood 
of  her  consent  to  marry  Henry  Soul6. 

"Well,  well,  Florie,"  said  the  old  gentleman,  "be  it  as 
you  wish,  provided  it  receives  Henry's  approbation — I  shall 
be  governed  alone  by  his  decision.  What  say  you,  Harry, 
my  boy  ? — Will  you  not  fear  to  trust  Florence,  lest  in  her 
warfare  on  hearts,  her  own  receive  a  wound  from  some  un- 
expected quarter  !" 

"Trust  her!"  said  he,  with  enthusiasm;  "anywhere — 
anywhere ;  after  a  trial  of  three  years,  what  have  I  to  fear, 
especially  as  I  shall  be  near  and  on  the  alert  to  ward  off 
the  attack — let  it  come  from  whence  it  may?" 

"Ha!  ha!  ha!"  Mr.  De  Lisle  laughed  immoderately; 
"three  years'  trial! — do  you  call  that  a  test  of  constancy? 
It  would,  indeed,  have  been  a  most  difficult  matter  for 
Florence  to  have  proven  inconstant  during  her  residence  at 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  137 

S .  Were  you  not  aware  that  masculines  were  reli- 
giously excluded  from  the  precincts  of  the  seminary — with 
a  single  exception,  Mrs.  Ormond's  brother  and  he  was  but  a 
country  parson?" 

Florence's  head  had  drooped,  with  anguish  and  contrition, 
upon  her  father's  shoulder  at  Henry's  generous  and  enthu- 
siastic expression  of  confidence  in  her,  who  had  proved  so 
base  a  recreant ;  but  when  her  father  dared  to  speak,  even 
in  a  manner  so  slightly  contemptuous  of  him,  who  was  en- 
shrined in  her  "  heart  of  hearts,"  and  loved  with  an  idol- 
atry so  passionate ;  every  drop  of  her  proud  and  haughty 
blood  was  aroused  and  rushed  in  indignant  torrents  through 
her  veins. 

"  Country  parson  !  would  you  call  him,  deridingly  ?  What 
but  his  own  lofty  scorn  of  the  world's  applause  has  made 
him  such  ?  Possessed  of  an  intellect  so  glorious — an  elo- 
quence so  irresistible — of  an  influence  so  ennobling — and 
of  a  heart,  the  birthplace  of  every  pure,  and  noble,  and 
honorable  sentiment — well,  indeed,  were  it  for  your  sex, 
did  it  number  more  such  as  he,  even  though  they  were  but 
'  country  parsons  /'  " 

She  had  risen  in  the  energy  of  her  defense  against  the 
contempt  cast  upon  her  lover,  and  stood  proudly  up — her 
lips  arching  in  scorn — her  eyes  flashing — her  nostrils  slightly 
distended  and  her  whole  frame  quivering  with  indignation. 

Though  she  appeared  in  the  character  of  a  Mariana — her 
dress,  attitude,  and  manner  were  those  of  a  Queen  Regnant. 
Having  just  returned  from  an  aristocratic  reunion,  myriads 
of  tiny  gems  glittered  amid  her  magnificent  braids  of  hair, 
and  the  velvet  sleeve  falling  back  from  her  arm,  uplifted  in 

12 


138  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

speaking,  revealed  its  polished  surface  resplendent  with 
similar  ornaments. 

"  Come,  come,  Florence,  I  did  not  mean  to  offend  you," 
said  her  father,  taking  her  hand,  which  was  slightly  extend- 
ed toward  him ;  "  but  still,  I  don't  believe  a  word  of  these 
fine  things  you  have  been  saying  about  the  preacher.  He 
seemed  a  very  gentlemanly  sort  of  fellow,  with  more  of 
information  than  one  could  expect ;  but  it  is  certainly  very 
evident  that  the  wonderful  influence  for  good,  of  which  you 
spoke  so  rapturously,  was  lost  upon  you — else,  had  you 
learned  to  curb  this  hasty  temper  of  yours,  which,  as  my 
old  friend  the  dean,  says,  _. 

'  Kindles  into  a  flame 
At  the  slightest  touch  of  blame,' 

of  one  of  your  friends.  His  example  of  lofty  scorn  for  the 
vanities  of  earth  seems  equally  disregarded  by  you;  for 
here  you  are,  even  now,  teasing  me  for  a  winter  in  the  gay- 
est city  of  the  Union.  Hey !  hey !  Florie,  had  he  been  all 
that  you  would  have  us  believe,  I  very  much  opine  Miss 
Florence  would  have  returned  a  much  better  girl.  What 
say  you  Harry?" 

Florence's  glance  lowered  with  savage  luster  upon  him, 
as  though  she  expected  that  he,  too,  would  join  in  derision 
of  the  lowly  calling  of  her  heart's  idol ;  but  her  opinion  had 
ever  been  a  law  to  Henry  from  which  he  was  never  known 
to  dissent;  and  notwithstanding  there  rested  on  his  darkly, 
handsome  features  a  shade  like  the  -coming  of  a  far-off 
storm,  he  replied:  "I  agree  with  Florence,  that  it  is  not 
the  calling  that  dignifies  the  man,  but  the  contrary ;  and 
talent  and  worth,  though  they  be  found  in  the  lowest  rank 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  139 

of  society,  are  entitled  to  as  much,  and  perhaps  more, 
respect  than  where  they  exist  in  polished  circles.  I  do  not 
anticipate  finding  anywhere  a  more  dangerous  rival  than 
the  one  she  has  just  now  described." 

How  her  heart  blessed  him  for  those  words ;  for  she  knew 
that  owing  to  the  peculiar  views  in  which  those  are  edu- 
cated who  occupy  his  elevated  position  in  life,  he  might 
most  naturally  have  scoffed  at  the  humble  station  of  Mr. 
Neville. 

Unwilling  to  prolong  the  conversation,  which  had  taken 
so  strange  and  unexpected  a  turn,  she  withdrew  her  hand 
from  her  father's,  and  without  deigning  to  bestow  the 
accustomed  nightly  salutation,  turned  away  to  seek  her 
chamber.  As  she  passed  Henri,  with  far  more  tenderness 
than  usual,  she  laid  her  hand  gently  on  his  shoulder,  and 
bending  over,  pressed  her  lips  to  his  brow — her  eyes  speak- 
ing the  thanks  her  lips  dared  not. 

Then  perceiving  his  clouded  visage,  she  said,  with  a 
smile,  whose  fascinations  were  irresistible,  to  poor  Henri: 
"  Harry,  to  come  back  to  the  starting  point  of  our  conver- 
versation,  you  do  not  object  to  my  proposed  visit  to  New 
Orleans?  Do  not  I  risk  quite  as  much  as  you?  How  do 
I  know,  but  that  some  '  rare  and  radiant'  maiden  may  lay 
siege  to  your  heart,  and  you  will  be  vowing  and  declaring 
to  me,  that  all  your  professed  love  was  but  a  boyish  enthu- 
siasm ;  and  that,  though  you  are  perfectly  willing  to  be  my 
brother — 'that  is  all,  and  nothing  more.' ' 

There  was  more  of  hope  in  her  expression  and  tone  than 
Florence  wot  of.  She  did  not  pause  for  a  reply,  but  hast- 
ened away.  "  Fanny,"  said  she,  "  you  may  go  to  your 
room — I  do  not  wish  to  retire  for  some  hours,  and  when  I 


HO  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

do,  thanks  to  my  northern  residence,  I  can  do  so  without 
your  assistance." 

The  well-trained  servant,  as  though  divining  her  mistress* 
wishes  by  intuition,  mellowed  down  the  rays  of  the  lamp  to 
the  shade  most  soothing  to  the  eye,  and  placing  several 
richly-bound  volumes  upon  the  marble  table  which  occu- 
pied the  center  of  the  room,  drew  up  a  large  fauteull,  and 
then  retired. 

Florence  sank  into  the  chair — her  beautiful  features 
becoming  distorted  and  rigid  —  then  throwing  herself 
wildly  upon  her  knees,  she  buried  her  face  in  its  crimson 
cushion. 

"  Oh  !  I  would  pray — pray,"  she  exclaimed  in  frenzied 
accents,  "  that  my  soul  might  pass  from  out  this  dark 
eclipse — I  am  enshrouded  in  gloom — whithersoever  I  turn 
my  gaze,  there  is  naught  but  darkness — deep,  impenetrable 
darkness  ! 

"  Better,"  added  she,  bitterly,  "  did  I  pray  for  forgive- 
ness of  sin.  How  wretchedly  depraved  have  I  become! — 
a  mere  living  falsehood  —  deception  marks  my  every  act — 
my  lips  are  stained  with  falsehood  !  With  what  a  miser- 
able subterfuge  did  I  this  evening  delude  my  father,  and 
my  poor,  wronged  Harry.  Harry  !  —  Harry  !  thou  hast 
nestled  to  thy  bosom  a  viper  ! — thou  knowest  not  the  base 
treachery  of  her  whom  thou  dost  endearingly  call  the 
'  bright  star  of  thy  soul  !' 

"  Blighted  all — all — all  their  hopes  and  my  own  happi- 
ness !  Oh  !  why  did  I  not  with  that  frankness  —  once  a 
part  of  my  nature — tell  thee  of  thy  misplaced  confidence — 
of  my  unworthiness  of  thy  love — instead  of  deferring  the 
fatal  hour,  by  cruel  falsehoods,  and  suffering  thee  to  hope 


EARLT  ENGAGEMENTS.  141 

on  for  that  which  may  never  be  ?  My  soul  is  perjured  — 
darkened  all  with  crime.  Conquest  !  I  sigh  for  conquest? 
how  base  a  falsity  !  Vain,  vain,  were  the  homage  of  a 
world,  while  thine  is  withheld.  I  pine  for  the  gay  world  ? 
I,  who  have  sunned  myself  in  thy  glorious  intellect — pine 
for  the  frivolities  of  fashionable  life — for  the  fulsome  flatte- 
ries of  its  pigmies  ?  How  monstrous  a  fabrication  !  Truly 
am  I  become  a  loathsome,  despicable,  wretched  being. 
Not  alone  have  I  to  mourn  over  the  destruction  of  earth's 
best  and  brightest  hopes — but- for  the  loss  of  all  that  was 
good  and  noble  in  my  character." 

Large  drops  clustered  upon  her  brow,  and  she  was,  from 
time  to  time,  nervously  convulsed. 

When  her  excitement  gradually  gave  way,  she  sought 
to  still  the  murmurings  of  conscience,  by  saying :  "  If  I 
have  deceived  them,  it  was  in  mercy  to  my  father,  who  is 
all  unable  to  bear  this  blow  at  present.  And  Harry  —  my 
noble,  generous  brother — yes,  in  the  bewildering  whirl  of 
fashionable  society,  I  shall  dash  from  me  all  thoughts  of 
him  who  has  usurped  thy  place,  and  my^heart,  mayhap, 
may  resume  its  allegiance  to  thee." 

An  expression  of  scorn  swept  over  her  features,  which 
plainly  indicated  that  her  heart  refused  its  credence  to  the 
sentiments  just  uttered.  "  I  have  deceived  others,  suc- 
cessfully, but  what  madness  to  seek  to  deceive  myself  — 
never  may  his  image  be  supplanted  by  another  !  But  I 
may  say  to  Harry,  however,  at  a  future  time,  that  I  at 
least  made  the  effort  to  become  worthy  of  his  affection,  but 
that  my  heart  refused  all  self-control." 

Still  kneeling,  her  face  reposing  on  the  rich  cushion  of 
the  chair  —  her  dark,  velvet  dress,  sweeping  in  graceful 


142  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

folds  about  her,  and  the  gems  glittering  amid  the  dishev- 
eled masses  of  hair,  and  on  her  beautiful  arms,  which 
seemed  stretched  out  in  the  very  helplessness  of  despair — 
the  worn  and  overtaxed  powers  of  the  maiden,  gradually 
succumbed  to  the  mystic  influence  of  sleep.  Those  costly 
gems  blazed  and  flickered  in  cold  brilliancy  beneath  the 
rays  of  the  lamp,  as  though  in  very  mockery  of  that  young 
face,  all  written  over  with  the  traces  of  a  broken  heart. 

In  accordance  with  Carrie's  oft-repeated  request,  she  had 
written  her  of  their  arrival.  Strange  it  was,  that  writing 
to  one  so  beloved,  should  have  seemed  so  arduous  a  task. 
Several  vain  attempts  were  made,  when  at  last,  with  ner- 
vous energy,  she  plunged  the  golden  pen  into  the  dark 
fluid  and  wrote  rapidly  : 

"  Mr  DARLING  CARRIE  — 

"  In  the  midst  of  the  congratulations  of  my  friends,  I 
have  but  a  moment  to  inform  you  of  the  safe  and  pleasant 
termination  of  our  journey.  They  tell  me  I  have  grown — 
improved  —  changed  —  changed  I  truly  am — but  whatever 
betides,  be  assured,  dearest,  there  can  be  no  change  ever, 
in  my  sentiments  of  regard  for  you. 

"  With  kind  love  to  all,  I  am,  as  ever, 

FLORENCE  DE  LISLE. 

This  laconic  epistle  received  a  lengthy  response  —  one 
breathing  in  every  sentence,  Carrie's  sorrow  for  the  loss 
of  her  friend,  and  closed  with  a  gentle  reproof  for  the 
brevity  of  her  letter  :  "  Why  did  you  not  give  me  a  mi- 
nute description  of  your  voyage  ?" 

"  'A  description  of  my  voyage  !'     Who  may  write  with 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  143 

a  brain  of  fire?"  said  Florence,  vehemently,  a  whirl  of 
emotions,  aroused  by  Carrie's  letter,  surging  wildly  in  hei 
bosom. 

Its  reply  was  briefly  written,  as  before.  With  many  as- 
surances of  gratitude  for  her  kind  remembrance,  she  in- 
formed her  of  her  immediate  departure  for  a  winter's  resi- 
dence in  the  gay  metropolis  of  the  South. 

The  names  of  Mr.  De  Lisle  and  daughter,  and  Henry 
Soule,  were  duly  registered  at  the  "  St.  Charles,"  and  a 
suite  of  apartments  in  that  magnificent  hotel  secured  for  the 
winter. 

The  cup  of  pleasure  was  now  drained  to  the  dregs,  by 
Florence,  but  it  contained  no  drops  of  balm  to  heal  her 
stricken  soul.  All  hearts  bowed  at  the  shrine  of  the  gifted 
and  fascinating  young  heiress,  but  frequently,  while  the 
music  of  her  laugh  seemed  yet  to  linger  in  the  festive  hall, 
and  her  fascinations  were  still  over  the  spirits  of  those  pre- 
sent, and  all  were  speaking  of  her  enviable  position — with 
beauty,  and  talent,  and  wealth — she  had  flown,  perchance, 
from  the  gay  and  brilliant  throng,  and,  secure  from  obser- 
vation, by  the  turned  key  of  her  chamber  —  would  dash, 
with  violence,  the  jewels  from  her  brow  and  person,  and, 
sulking  down  upon  an  ottoman,  with  clasped  hands,  and 
cheeks  from  which  the  rich  carnation  was  drenched  out, 
she  would  sit  hour  after  hour — her  wild,  despairing  glance 
fixed  on  vacancy.  Sometimes  her  lips  would  move,  and, 
in  low,  broken  tones,  she  would  murmur — "  Do  all  love  ? 
all  admire  save  thee — thee  alone,  whose  love  my  soul  craves?" 

"  Henry,"  said  Mr.  De  Lisle,  one  morning,  "  you  must 
really  interdict  Florence's  going  out  so  frequently;  do  you 


144  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

not  see  the  sad  ravages  of  dissipation  in  her  pallid  cheek, 
and  daily  increasing  languor  ?  ic  is  only  when  flushed  by 
the  excitement  of  the  ball-room  that  her  cheek  resumes  its 
bloom,  and  her  step  its  elasticity;  this  excessive  dissipation 
must  be  checked.  Come,  Florie,  dearest,  will  not  you  and 
Henry  spend  this  evening  quietly  at  home  with  me?  its 
repose  will  charm  you,  by  very  contrast.  Colonel  Ingersoll 
has  promised  to  drop  in,  and  we  will  have  a  pleasant  little 
game  of  cards,  all  to  ourselves  ;  and  will  close  the  evening 
with  some  of  your  charming  songs." 

Florence's  lips  quivered,  and  a  momentary  mist  gathered 
upon  her  long,  dark  lashes. 

"  Dearly  well  I  should  like  to  accept  your  kind  invitation, 
dear  Papa  ;  but  I  have  yielded  to  Mrs.  Hampden's  earnest 
solicitation  to  take  part  in  her  tableau  vivant ;  she  is  anxious 
that  it  should  be  the  most  brilliant  affair  of  the  season,  and 
I  could  not  refuse,  after  all  her  kind  attentions  to  us — to 
add,  by  my  fascinations,  as  she  was  pleased  to  call  them,  to 
the  pleasures  of  her  entertainment." 

On  looking  over  the  list  of  Mrs.  Hampden's  tableau,  Flo- 
rence at  once  decided  upon  one  of  a  most  gloomy  and  tragic 
character ;  and  could  not  be  dissuaded  by  her  admiring 
friends,  to  abandon  it  for  one  which  would  enhance  her 
brilliant  charms. 

The  scene  was  this — on  a  dreary,  jutting  rock,  at  whose 
base  a  lake  was  sleeping,  or  rather  whose  laughing  waves 
'  seemed  stilled  into  repose  by  the  awful  tragedy  about  to  be 
enacted  through  its  instrumentality — a  maiden  in  the  full 
meridian  splendor  of  womanhood,  paused  for  a  moment, 
with  hands  clasped,  and  eyes  turned  imploringly  Heaven- 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  145 

ward,  ere  the  fatal  leap  was  taken,  which  "would  forever 
steel  her  heart  to  the  woe,  of  the  base  desertion  of  her 
lover. 

The  wealth  and  fashion  of  the  city  were  assembled  in 
Mrs.  Hampden's  drawing-rooms,  anticipating  more  than  an 
usual  degree  of  pleasure  from  the  varied  character  of  the 
amusements  for  the  evening  ;  and  there  is  no  place  in  the 
whole  extent  of  our  country,  where  amusements  of  all  kinds 
are  enjoyed  with  so  exquisite  a  relish,  as  in  the  southern 
metropolis.  The  spirit  of  its  European  founders  still  lingers 
there — causing  its  inhabitants  to  be  a  distinctive  people 
from  our  countrymen. 

Several  tableaux  were  exhibited,  and  vastly  enjoyed  ; 
then  it  was  rumored  that  Florence  De  Lisle  would  appear 
in  the  next ;  and  the  excitement  became  intense,  as  the 
moment  drew  near  for  the  appearance  of  the  acknowledged 
"  Queen  of  Beauty"  of  the  season. 

"  The  curtain  drew  up,  and  the  scene  was  perfect  in  all 
respects,  save  that  Florence,  instead  of  casting  her  eyes 
imploringly  upward,  fixed  them  yearningly  on  the  lake  be- 
neath her.  There  was  much  in  the  character  she  repre- 
sented to  enlist  her  feelings.  The  hopeless  sorrow,  which 
had  nerved  the  timid  heart  of  the  girl  for  the  desperate 
act,  found  an  echo  in  her  own  breast ;  and  quite  forgetful 
that  she  was  but  enacting  a  part,  in  a  gay  and  brilliant  as- 
sembly, she  gazed  on  the  lake  as  though  it  were  a  reality, 
and  longed  to  wrap  the  mantle  of  its  waves  about  her,  in 
the  "  long,  deep  sleep,  that  knoweth  no  awakening." 

As  the  curtain  was  falling  before  her,  concealing  her 
from  the  breathlessly  admiring  throng,  her  eyes  were 
lifted  mechanically,  and  encountered  a  glance  so  full  of 
13 


146  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

deep  and  earnest  sympathy,  it  aroused  her  heart  from  its 
torpor. 

Every  page  of  that  mysterious  volume — the  heart,  had 
been  read  and  re-read  with  a  closely  scrutinizing  eye  by 
the  stranger  ;  and  his  glance  penetrated  at  once  the  thin 
disguise,  and  detected  the  broken-hearted  woman  in  one 
whom  others  recognized  as  a  brilliant  and  enviable  belle. 

Once  more  amid  the  gay  and  festive  scene  —  "the 
admired  of  all  admirers,"  Florence,  endeavored  to  rally 
her  spirits,  and  reply  to  the  compliments  raining  upon  her  in 
very  torrents  ;  but  a  mist  would  gather,  from  time  to  time, 
upon  her  wildly-brilliant  eyes,  which  strangely  falsified  the 
smile  lingering  upon  her  rich  lips. 

That  glance  of  sympathy  from  the  stranger  eye,  falling 
upon  the  parched  and  arid  desert  of  her  heart,  unsealed  its 
fountains,  and  she  longed  to  be  alone,  that  she  might  weep 
bitter,  but  relieving  tears. 

"  Harry,"  said  she,  taking  advantage  of  the  confusion 
which  preceded  the  preparations  for  dancing,  "  take  me  to 
the  window," — the  heat  and  closeness  of  the  room  are  op- 
pressive." 

Gathering  the  heavy  drapery  over  her,  she  leaned  out  of 
the  window  ;  it  was  a  relief  to  turn  from  the  brilliant  lights 
within,  to  the  darkness  without.  The  damp,  chill  night 
air  bathed  her  burning  brow,  soothingly  ;  but  there  was  no 
"  healing  on  its  wings"  for  the  sickened  heart.  A  sensa- 
tion of  faintness  came  over  her — "Order  the  carriage,  Har- 
ry," she  gasped,  "  take  me  hence  !" 

Amid  the  confusion  of  voices  around  her,  one  most  mu- 
sically sweet  and  girlish,  pronouncing  her  own  name,  called 
back  her  half-vanished  senses. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  147 

"  Cousin  George,"  it  exclaimed,  "  I  have  been  seeking 
for  you,  to  offer  my  apologies  for  having  dragged  you  to  a 
place  so  little  in  accordance  with  your  tastes.  You  have 
been  doing  penance  all  the  evening,  I  surmise,  for  a  foolish 
whim  of  mine  ;  doubtless  finding  nothing  in  this  festive 
scene  half  so  delightful  as  the  society  of  the  silently-beau- 
tiful occupants  of  your  studio.  I  had  hoped  that  Miss 
De  Lisle's  exquisite  tableau  would  compensate  you  for  the 
(to  you)  disgusting  frivolities  of  a  fashionable  party — and 
would  furnish  you  with  a  model  for  some  future  work  of 
art,  which  would  immortalize  your  name.  But  it  was  a 
miserable  failure.  Instead  of  casting  her  eyes  upward,  as 
if  to  implore  forgiveness  for  the  rash  act  premeditated,  she 
actually  stared  into  the  lake,  as  though  she  were  suddenly 
seized  with  a  desire  for  a  bath  in  its  placid  waters.  I  am 
most  grievously  disappointed — was  wholly  unprepared  for 
such  a  faux  pas.  I  could  not  associate  imperfection  in  any 
degree  with  the  proud  and  peerless  Florence." 

"Failure,"  said  he,  "  do  you  call  that  a  failure?  why 
it  was  the  veriest  reality.  Why  should  she  lift  her  eyes  in 
affected  sorrow,  when  her  soul  was  longing  to  have  its  wild 
fires  extinguished  in  the  depths  of  the  lake  upon  which  she 
gazed,  forgetful  at  the  moment  that  it  was  but  an  illusion  ! 
The  failure,  if  such  it  can  be  called,  was,  that  absorbed  in 
the  sorrow  of  her  own  bosom,  she  acted  a  natural  part, 
instead  of  an  assumed  one,  sweet  coz." 

This  was  received  with  a  burst  of  incredulous  laughter. 

"  You  poet  artistes  have  certainly  the  most  monstrously 
absurd  ideas  of  any  men  in  existence,"  said  the  gentleman 
on  whose  arm  the  lady  addressed  was  leaning.  "  Ever 
dreaming  of  broken  hearts — this  is  assuredly  the  sublime  of 


148  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

the  ridiculous.  Miss  De  Lisle,  the  beautiful,  accomplished, 
fascinating  heiress — the  bethrothed  bride  of  the  wealthiest 
man  in  our  parish,  sighing  to  drown  herself.  I  dare  say,  if 
she  had  any  such  silly  thought,  it  was  occasioned  by  sor- 
row for  the  hearts  she  has  broken,  not  that  her  heart  is  in 
that  deplorable  condition.  But  I  can  clear  her  of  having 
designedly  wrought  ruin  upon  a  single  heart — for  on  her 
first  appearance  in  society,  in  mercy  to  our  sex,  and  with  a 
frankness  which  charmed  by  its  novelty,  she  admitted  her 
long  standing  engagement  to  Mr.  Soul6  ;  so  if  any  of  us 
have  been  silly  enough  to  fall  in  love  with  her  charming  self 
the  sin  rests  on  our  own  heads.  Now  what  have  you  to  say?" 

"Merely,  that  it  may  be  owing  to  her  'early  engagement  ' 
that  her  life  is  withered  in  its  spring-time!  But  it  is  more 
probably  owing  to  the  vanity  of  her  woman's  heart.  Like 
many  another  weak,  vain  creature,  she  has,  I  conjecture, 
made  a  wreck  of  her  happiness  for  the  eclat,  of  this  wealthy 
and  aristocratic  match — scorning  some  humbler  alliance,  to 
which  the  better  feelings  of  her  heart  incline  her.  Anna, 
my  sweet  cousin,  let  me  undeceive  you  as  to  the  happiness 
of  this  brilliant  belle,  lest  your  young  and  guileless  heart, 
may  sigh  for  a  destiny  apparently  bright  as  hers.  I 
have  watched  her  closely,  this  evening,  and  my  first  im- 
pression, when  I  saw  her  in  the  tableau  you  so  much  con- 
demn, has  been  confirmed. 

"I  at  once  detected  a  spirit,  desolated  by  some  mighty 
whirlwind  of  passion ;  and  the  glance  that  rested  on  that 
mimic  lake,  told  of  a  soul  pining  to  be  freed  its  earthly 
shackles.  Her  restless  glances,  and  nervous  gayety,  since 
she  has  joined  the  gay  throng,  also  indicate  plainly,  that 
she  is  seeking,  in  the  excitements  of  the  fashionable  world, 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  149 

to  stifle  sorrow.  But  it  may  not  be — I  tell  you,  dearest, 
that  jeweled  brow,  is  so  racked  with,  agony — that  ap- 
parently happy  heart,  so  seared  with  grief,  that  the  most 
abject  rag-gatherer's  condition,  is  far  more  enviable  than 
hers.  The  vulture  of  despair,  has  fastened  his  beak  on 
her  heart — to  be  removed  nevermore,  I  fear.  I  cannot 
choose  but  pity  her,  although  her  own  hands,  doubtless, 
have  forged  those  galling  chains.  Anna,  Anna,  beware  of 
trampling  the  gold  of  the  heart,  beneath  your  feet,  and 
exalting  the  gold  of  earth  in  its  stead." 

Hbnry  now  advanced  through  the  crowd,  and  pushing 
aside  the  curtain  that  concealed  her  from  view,  drew 
Florence  forth.  At  the  instant  she  emerged  from  her  se- 
clusion, the  young  artist  also  turned  to  move  away.  He 
looked  up — and  the  glance  that  met  his,  was  so  wildly  im- 
ploring, it  seemed  almost  to  utter — "  Spare  me — in  mercy 
spare  me,"  that  unconsciously,  he  bowed  as  if  in  answer 
to  its  prayer  ;  his  heart  deeply  wrung  at  having  added  to 
her  anguish,  by  his  exposition  of  her  wretchedness  and 
severe  strictures  as  to  its  cause. 

Henry  was  alarmed  at  her  agitation,  but  to  his  questions 
concerning  it,  she  replied,  "My  head  aches  violently — I 
feel  as  though  I  am  going  to  be  very  ill." 

When  Florence  reached  home  she  indulged  in  a  long  fit 
of  weeping — the  first  for  seyeral  months.  It  was  the 
artist's  glance,  which  had  touched  her  heart,  and  opened 
its  long  pent-up  fountains.  She  was  not  aware  of  her  com- 
plete abandonment  in  the  tableau,  until  after  having  over- 
heard his  remarks.  "  But  I  am  not  so  base  as  he  imag- 
ines. Though  truly  he  discovered  the  festering  wound  in 
my  bosom,  which  others  have  failed  to  see,  I  have  not 


150  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

bartered  the  wealth  of  the  heart,  for  the  base  dust  of 
earth — my  love  was  far,  far  above  all  earthly  considera- 
tions— and  had  the  offer  been  mine,  it  was  the  palace  I 
should  have  scorned,  for  the  humble  home  blessed  by  his 
presence." 

"Oh!  those  nights  of  agony — and  days  of  gloom  I 
When  on  the  weary  night,  dawned  wearier  day, 
And  bitterer  was  the  grief  devoured  alone." 

The  day  was  more  than  half  expired  when  Florence 
unclosed  her  eyes,  swollen  almost  to  bursting,  by  her  recent 
flood  of  grief.  Fanny  was  arranging  an  exquisite  bouquet, 
in  a  silver  vase  upon  the  table.  The  delicate  perfume  of 
the  flowers  pervaded  the  apartment,  and  soothingly  greeted 
her  exhausted  senses. 

On  perceiving  that  her  mistress  was  observing  her,  the 
girl  brought  it  to  the  bedside,  and  holding  it  up  admir- 
ingly to  her  view,  said  ;  "  Master  Harry  sent  it — and  here 
is  the  note." 

Florence's  languid  glance  brightened  for  a  moment  as  it 
rested  on  the  beauteous  buds  and  blossoms — then  turning 
sadly  away,  she  drew  forth  the  card  from  its  perfumed 
envelope.  It  was  a  few,  passionate  expressions  of  sorrow 
for  her  illness  of  the  preceding  evening,  with  earnest  hopes 
that  she  was  now  recovered  from  it.  "  But  do  not,  dear- 
est, if  you  are  ill,  let  any  false  scruples  preclude  me  from 
your  bedside.  Am  I  not  your  affianced  husband  ?  then 
whose  hand  but  mine  should  minister  to  your  sufferings?" 

Large  drops  gathered  fast,  and  coursed  over  her  pallid 
cheek — "  Harry — Harry,"  she  inwardly  murmured,  "thou 
hast  conquered  at  last — yes,  truly  art  thou  my  affianced 
husband,  and  though  my  heart  grows  chill,  as  with  the 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  151 

mildew  of  death  at  the  thought,  yet  still  I  will  be  thy 
wife — thy  faithful  wife,  if  not  a  loving  one.  I  cannot  be 
more  wretched  than  I  am — and  I  would  spare  thee,  and 
my  father.  A  few  more  months,  and  this  aching  heart  will 
have  found  rest — deep,  calm,  and  profound  rest,  beneath 
the  clods  of  the  valley — but  while  it  continues  to  throb, 
thy  happiness,  and  that  of  my  father  shall  be  its  only  care. 
Thy  long  years  of  devoted  tenderness,  and  my  father's 
wishes  alike  demand  the  sacrifice." 

"Go  to  Harry,  this  instant,"  said  she  to  Fanny,  who 
entered  with  refreshments  for  her,  "  and  say  that  I  am 
better,  and  will  join  him  in  the  parlor  this  evening — say 
also  to  my  father,  to  order  the  carriage  at  twelve  to- 
morrow— I  would  return  to  Bellefontaine — and  do  you, 
Fanny,  hasten  to  get  all  things  in  readiness — I  long  to  be 
at  home." 

Mr.  De  Lisle  was  not  at  all  surprised  at  the  suddenness 
of  her  desire  to  return  home — on  the  contrary,  owing  to  her 
natural  impulsiveness,  he  had  been  expecting  it  for  some- 
time. 

"  It  is  useless,  Harry  my  boy,  for  us  to  attempt  to  coerce 
Florence.  Her  own  good  sense  will  always  bring  her  right 
in  the  end — I  have  been  heartily  weary  of  the  bustle  of 
the  city  for  weeks — pining  for  the  sweet  repose  of  Belle- 
fontaine— but  if  I  had  proposed  returning  thither,  she 
"would  have  rebelled  against  it — and  now  you  see,  she  has 
determined  to  go  of  her  own  choice.  Her  nature  is  so 
loftily  independent,  it  chafes  at  the  slightest  control.  But 
you  know  her,  Harry,  and  there  is  not  such  another  on  the 
earth,  if  I  have  spoiled  her  a  little,"  said  he,  tears  of  fond 
affection  glistening  in  his  eyes. 


152  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

There  is  something  beautiful  even  in  the  weaknesses  of 
parental  love — something  which  we  cannot  but  admire, 
even  though  we  may  condemn. 

Fanny,  with  skillful  hands,  bathed  the  calm,  sad  face  of 
her  mistress  in  perfumed  waters,  seeking  to  remove  the 
traces  of  sufferinf  from  it.  When  her  toilette  was  finished, 

O 

and  Florence  arose  to  go  down  to  the  parlor,  her  tremulous 
limbs  almost  refused  their  support,  and  she  was  forced  to 
lean  upon  the  shoulder  of  the  servant,  while  with  slow 
and  feeble  steps  she  proceeded  to  the  door. 

Henry,  with  anxious  solicitude,  had  paced  the  hall  in 
front  of  her  chamber,  during  the  greater  part  of  the  day, 
and  now  hastened  forward  to  receive  the  precious  burden 
from  Fanny's  arm.  He  drew  her  closely  to  his  bosom, 
gazing  with  a  searching  glance,  upon  her  calm  and  passive 
features,  on  which  he  did  not,  or  would  not  see  the  seal  of 
the  icy  breath  of  despair.  He  was  alarmed  at  its  deadly 
pallor,  and  exclaimed  ;  "  You  have  suffered  much  through 
the  night,  dearest,  and  I  fear  you  are  still  too  unwell  to 
leave  your  chamber." 

"  No,  no;"  she  answered,  "  I  would  see  my  father  about 
our  journey  to-morrow." 

The  room  was  soon  filled  with  "callers,"  to  discuss  the 
merits  of  the  tableau  vivant,  of  the  preceding  evenino- ;  and 
all  expressed  their  surprise  and  regret,  on  hearing  of 
Florence's  sudden  determination  to  leave  the  city. 

"But  cannot  we  detain  you  a  short  time  longer,  Miss 
De  Lisle  ?"  said  a  gentleman  to  her.  "  To-morrow  is  the 
Sabbath,  and  you  should  go  to  church  ere  you  leave,  and 
get  absolution  for  all  the  ills  you  have  wrought  on  my  un- 
fortunate sex." 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  153 

Mr.  De  Lisle  laughed  heartily,  and  replied ;  "I  dare 
wager  any  amount,  you  could  not  get  Florie  to  church — 
she  was  quite  surfeited  with  church-going  during  her 
school  days." 

This  was  said  with  a  merry  twinkle  of  the  eye,  as  though 
he  expected  to  tantalize  her,  or  provoke  her.  There  was 
nothing  he  so  much  enjoyed  as  Florence's  bursts  of  passion 
in  defense  of  that  which  she  deemed  worthy  of  it ;  or,  in 
condemnation  of  wrong.  But  it  had  no  effect,  in  the  pre- 
sent instance,  except  perhaps  to  add  slightly  to  her  pallor, 
and  she  calmly  replied  : 

"  Do  not  seek  to  detain  me,  Mr.  Carlton  ;  I  am  pining 
for  the  orange  groves,  whose  blossoms  and  birds  are  now, 
I  surmise,  filling  the  air  of  Bellefontaine  with  odors  and 
songs.  I  ana  a  very  child  in  my  love  for  flowers  and 
birds." 

"Ah  !  indeed,  Miss  De  Lisle;  I  have  been  suspecting 
this  long  time  that  there  was  a  deep  undercurrent  of  poetry 
in  your  nature  ;  and  my  conjecture  is  confirmed  by  your 
present  declaration  of  love  for  birds  and  flowers,  and  sweet 
odors,  all  of  which  light  material  constitutes  the  food  of 
poets.  But  your  enviable  position  in  life  will  prove  a  bar- 
rier to  your  fame  as  a  poetess,  should  you  have  any  aspira- 
tions that  way.  The  heart  must  be  crushed,  ere,  like  the 
flower,  it  yields  its  richest  perfume.  It  was  the  hand  of 
grief,  that  wove  the  chaplet  of  fame  which  encircles  the 
brow  of  Hemans,  Landon,  and  a  host  of  others." 

At  length  the  weary  evening  drew  to  a  close  ;  and  as  all 
were  expressing  their  sorrowful  regrets  at  parting,  one,  a 
particular  friend,  said,  "Farewell,  dearest;  but  where  shall 


154  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

we  meet  you  this  summer,  ma  belle?  at  Saratoga,  Newport, 
or  Harrodsburgh  ?  ' 

"  I  know  not — papa  will  decide." 

"  I  rather  suspect,"  said  he,  "  before  that  season  arrives, 
papa  will  no  longer  have  the  right  to  decide  upon  your 
movements." 

"True,"  said  she,  after  a  slight  pause,  "  I  shall  then  be 
guided  by  Harry's  wishes." 

The  last  adieus  were  made,  and  Florence,  with  the 
wounds  in  her  bosom  bleeding  afresh,  from  the  mental 
inquisition  of  the  evening,  again  sought  the  solitude  of  her 
chamber. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  155 


CHAPTER    XI. 

"  She  might  not  meet  the  gaze  the  other  sent  upon  her  beauty. 

For  to  her  downcast  eyes  were  given 
The  azure  hue  of  an  April  heaven ; 
The  softening  of  those  sunny  hours, 
By  passing  shadows,  and  by  showers. 

Light  her  step  was,  and  her  voice 
Said  unto  the  air,  rejoice ; 
And  her  light  laugh's  silvery  breaking, 
Sounded  like  the  lark's  first  waking. 

Thou  art  too  fay-like,  and  too  fair, 

For  our  more  common,  clouded  ah*. 
Beauty,  such  as  thine,  belongs 
To  a  world  of  dreams  and  songs." 

THE  glance  of  the  young  artist  haunted  Florence  for 
many  months  ;  and,  strangely  enough,  not  a  great  while 
afterward,  a  singular  coincidence  revealed  to  him  the  cause 
of  her  wretchedness. 

He  was  journeying  through  the  country,  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  his  loved  vocation,  when  the  enchanting  scenery  of 
S valley  burst  upon  his  delighted  vision,  and  he  re- 
solved to  transfer  its  picturesque  charms  to  canvas. 

He  selected  the  "  Arm  Chair"  as  the  finest  point  of 
observation  from  which  to  take  a  sketch  of  the  valley ;  and 
with  his  whole  soul  thrilling  under  the  influence  of  the 
beautiful,  the  charming  creation  of  his  genius  grew  rapidly 
toward  perfection. 

He  was  startled  from  his  absorption,  one  day,  by  the 
sound  of  a  voice,  soft  and  sweetly  melodious ;  at  times 


156  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

bursting  forth  into  snatches  of  song,  then  again  relapsing  into 
conversation  ;  and  the  reader  will  not  be  surprised  that  he 
should  have  dropped  his  pencil  to  gaze  with  breathless 
admiration,  when  informed  that  it  was  Carrie,  sweet  Car- 
rie Neville,  who  was  approaching  him  —  or,  that  he,  who 
had  been  a  dreamer  of  love,  all  his  life,  should,  at  that 
instant,  have  felt  its  first  delicious  breath  upon  his  soul. 

Unconscious  of  the  admiring  gaze  fixed  upon  her,  Carrie 
continued  to  ascend  the  hill.  She  had  taken  her  straw  hat 
from  her  head,  and  was  swinging  it,  with  careless  grace, 
back  and  forth.  The  vernal  air  had  swept  the  clustering 
ringlets  back  from  her  fair,  young,  girlish  brow  ;  and  the 
exercise  of  walking  had  given  to  the  waxen  transparency 
of  her  complexion,  a  tinge,  delicately  beautiful  as  that  of 
the  cleft  rosebud.  Her  eyes  —  and  had  Carrie  Neville's 
other  features  been  coarse  and  irregular,  those  starry  eyes 
of  themselves,  would  have  endowed  her  with  a  wondrous 
beauty  —  so  soft,  gentle,  loving,  and  spirituelle  was  their 
expression,  it  was  an  angel's  soul  that  glanced  from  them — 
her  eyes  were  concentrated  on  those  of  her  companion,  with 
whom  she  was  gayly  conversing. 

Of  the  countenance  of  him  who  walked  by  her  side,  and 
who  seemed  listening,  with  pleased  attention,  to  the  bab-* 
blings  of  her  glad  young  spirit,  the  artiste's  hasty  glance 
detected  that  melancholy  —  the  melancholy  of  some  great 
and  crushing  sorrow — was  its  predominant  characteristic. 

The  handsome  young  artiste  arose,  and  bowed  grace- 
fully at  their  approach.  When  Carrie's  eyes  met  his,  there 
seemed  a  kind  of  magnetic  telegraph  established  instantly 
between  them,  which  traced,  with  wonderful  dispatch, 
some  startling  and  mysterious  characters  on  her  heart;  her 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  157 

face  was  suffused  with  crimson,  her  eyes  drooped,  and  a 
slight  agitation  was  visible  in  her  manner.  Hastily  tying 
on  her  hat,  she  drew  it  over  her  face  to  conceal  her  embar- 
rassment, her  heart  fluttering  like  a  prisoned  bird,  with  a 
new  and  undefined  feeling — half  pleasure — half  fear. 
There  is  truth  in  the  doctrine  of  "  love  at  first  siofht." 

O         ' 

notwithstanding  the  sneers  of  those  coarser  natures,  who 
are  incapable  of  experiencing  such  a  feeling.  In  natures 
of  high  mental  and  moral  refinement  —  of  entire  congeni- 
ality— there  is  an  instantaneous  recognition,  and  the  soul 
leaps  wildly  with  joy  at  having  found  its  mate. 

The  pastor,  perceiving  that  he  was  a  stranger  in  the  val- 
ley, paused  to  offer  some  kind  civilities ;  and,  on  observ- 
ing his  occupation,  requested  permission  to  examine  the 
sketch. 

"  See,  Caroline,  what  a  charming  view  of  the  valley — I 
perceive  it  to  be  the  work  of  a  master  hand." 

Carrie's  face  brightened  with  pleasure,  and  she  exclaimed: 
"  I  have  a  sketch  taken  by  a  young  female  friend,  from 
this  very  point." 

"  Indeed  !    I  should  be  most  happy  to  see  it." 

"  You  can  have  that  pleasure,  sir,  by  walking  down  with, 
us  to  the  parsonage,"  said  the  pastor. 

The  artist  prepared,  with  unusual  alacrity,  to  accept  an 
invitation  so  agreeable.  Calling  his  servant,  who  was  lying 
on  the  margin  of  the  stream,  some  distance  above,  and  who, 
from  an  inactive  life,  was  affected  with  the  disease  yclept 
"  Spring  Fever,"  he  gave  to  his  charge  the  materials  of  his 
labor,  and  stepped  to  the  side  of  Carrie  Neville. 

Mr.   Clifton  was    a    most   brilliant  colloquist ;    gliding 
from  topic  to  topic  with  polished  ease  ;    and  by  the  time 


158  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

they  had  reached  the  parsonage,  his  companionship  proved 
so  agreeable  to  the  pastor,  as  to  cause  him  to  express  a 
wish  that  their  acquaintance  might  become  more  ex- 
tended. 

Carrie  drew  forth  the  sketch  from  her  portfolio.  It  was 
taken  by  Florence  De  Lisle,  a  few  months  before  her  de- 
parture. The  artist  studied  it  with  evident  pleasure. 

"There  are  traces  of  fine  genius  here — from  whose 
pencil  is  it  ?" 

"  Florence  De  Lisle's  ;  a  young  lady  from  the  south, 
who  Avas  a  pupil  for  several  years  in  my  sister's  institution." 

"Florence  De  Lisle,"  said  he,  musingly,  "  can  it  be  the 
brilliant  Belle  of  New  Orleans  ?" 

"  Yes,  yes,  I  am  sure  it  is,"  said  Carrie,  "she  wrote  me 
she  had  spent  the  winter  there;  and  she  is  so  magnificently 
beautiful,  she  would  prove  a  belle  in  any  circle.  But  do 
you  know  her  ? — Oh  !  tell  me  all  about  her — I  am  over- 
joyed at  having  met  one  who  has  seen  her  so  recently ;  are 
not  you  also,  brother  ?" 

He  did  not  seem  to  have  heard  her  question.  His  eyes, 
which  were  fixed  on  Mr.  Clifton,  expresssd  the  intense 
interest,  with  which  he  awaited  his  reply. 

"  I  did  not  become  acquainted  with  Miss  De  Lisle, 
though  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  her  at  a  grand 
soiree,  to  which  I  must  plead  guilty  of  having  gone  for  no 
other  purpose,  than  to  judge  for  myself  of  the  brilliant 
gifts,  I  had  heard  from  every  lip,  she  possessed.  Her 
beauty  is  of  a  most  magnificent  character,  as  you  re- 
marked, and  it  has  called  forth  compliments  enough  to  have 
turned  the  strongest  mind.  But  my  heart  refused  its 
homage,  to  one  plunged  in  the  greatest  excess  of  female 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  159 

dissipation.     There  was  not,  in  New  Orleans,  so  ardent  a 
votary  at  the  shrine  of  'Fashion,'  as  Miss  De  Lisle." 

The  pastor   could  not  restrain  the  sis^h — the  a^onizino- 

A  o  o  o 

sigh — that  convulsed  his  bosom.     He  arose  and  left  the 
room. 

A  raj  of  light  penetrated  the  young  artist's  mind. 
"  Miss  Neville,"  said  he,  "  did  your  brother  see  much  of 
Miss  De  Lisle's  society  during  her  residence  here  ?" 

"  Yes — they  were  together  nearly  every  day — he  took 
great  interest  in  her  education." 

"  Did  he  manifest  a  particular  regard  for  her  ?" 
"  Yes — Florence  was  a  great  favorite  with  him,  and  with 
all  of  us — we  loved  her  very  dearly." 

"  Doubtless — but  there  are  different  kinds  of  regard." 
Carrie's  eyes  were  lifted  to  his  with  a  perplexed  expres- 
sion, as  though  she  had  not  a  clear  idea  of  his  meaning. 
Her  face  crimsoned,  and  her  eyes  were  instantly  vailed 
with  their  long  dark  lashes — perhaps  the  glance  that  met 
hers,  explained  the  kind  of  regard  to  which  he  alluded. 

'  I  do  not  know,"  said  she,  thoughtfully,  "  Theodore 
has  suffered  such  terrible  depression  of  spirits  since  she 
left,  that  I  have  thought  a  hopeless  affection  for  her,  per- 
haps, might  have  caused  it  " 

"  And  had  you  reason  to  suppose  the  feeling  mutual  ?" 
"  Oh,  no! — though  Florence  esteemed  my  brother  highly, 
and  never  seemed  so  happy  as  when  in  his  society,  and 
used  to  chide  him  when  he  was  detained  from  her,  and  tell 
him  her  lessons  were  positively  incomprehensible,  unless 
he  was  there  to  explain  them — she  was  engaged  to  be 
married  before  she  came  here.  This,  my  brother  told  me, 


160  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

he  ascertained  some  weeks  before  she  left,  through  a  letter 
from  Mr.  De  Lisle." 

All  was  now  clear  to  the  artist — an  early  and  im- 
prudent marriage  engagement  had  caused  their  separation. 
"  But  this  must  not  be — shall  not  be,"  thought  he.  "This 
night  I  will  acquaint  Mr.  Neville  with  her  unhappiness  ; 
and  to-morrow's  post,  shall  convey  a  letter  that  will  reunite 
these  hearts,  which  are  now  pining  in  dreaiy  exile  from 
each  other." 

"  The  last  letter  I  received  from  Florence,"  said  Carrie, 
breaking  the  silence — "  contained  the  intelligence  of  her 
marriage,  and  departure  for  Europe." 

This  was  said  in  a  low,  gentle  tone,  but  it  came  down 
like  the  ax  of  the  guillotine,  upon  the  bright  anticipations 
the  artist  had  indulged. 

Mr.  Neville  re-entered — he  was  a  shade  paler  and 
sadder  than  before,  but  exerted  himself  to  entertain  his 
guest.  Every  chord  of  Clifton's  generous  heart,  thrilled 
with  sympathy  for  the  pastor.  He  was  agonized  with  con- 
trition, at  having,  though  inadvertently,  added  to  his 
already  overwhelming  sorrows,  and  now  exerted  all  his 
brilliant  conversational  powers  to  charm  away  his  woe. 
He  told  of  his  travels  abroad  —  of  his  residence  in  the 
lands  where  the  arts  have  attained  their  highest  perfection  ; 
and  finally  closed,  by  expressing  a  wish,  that  the  pastor 
and  Carrie  should  accompany  him  to  the  city,  and  visit  his 
"studio  ;"  which  contained  the  collection  of  jewels  he  had 
brought  with  him  from  the  classic  shores  of  Southern 
Europe. 

The  pastor  gratefully  accepted  the  kind  proposition  ; 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  161 

and  -when  the  evening  drew  to  a  close,  and  young 
Clifton  was  making  his  graceful  adieus  he  gave  him  a 
cordial  invitation  to  visit  them  often,  while  he  remained  in 
the  valley. 

That  night,  the  mischievous,  meddlesome  little  god — 
Cupid — >sadly  interfered  with  the  rights  of  Morpheus,  whose 
legitimate  province  it  is  to  rule  and  reign  over  the  night. 
Carrie  Neville  was  restless — for  the  first  time,  her  gentle 
soul  resisted  night's  influences — she  could  not  sleep.  Her 
beautiful  eyes  were  oft  suffused  with  tears — tears  caused  by 
an  excess  of  happiness — and  she  would  murmur :  "  He  is 
very  agreeable  —  almost  as  much  so  as  brother !"  (her 
brother  was  her  standard  of  perfection).  Then,  as  though 
apologizing  to  herself  for  this  interest  in  a  stranger,  she 
would  add,  that  "he  had  seen  Florence  and  spoken  of  her, 
and  that  was  why  he  proved  so  agreeable." 

Ah  !  Carrie — Carrie  !  as  the  breath  upon  the  polished 
surface  of  the  glass,  so  does  that  slight  deception  stain  thy 
pure  and  guileless  soul. 

There  must  have  existed  some  peculiarly  awakening  in- 
fluence in  the  "  Valley"  that  night,  for  Clifton  too,  mani- 
fested no  disposition  to  retire.  From  the  smile  that  played 
over  his  finely-wrought  features,  one  might  naturally  sur- 
mise his  cogitations  to  be  of  a  most  happy  character — and 
in  sooth  they  were.  Strangely  enough,  without  any  search 
for,  or  expectation  of,  such  a  thing,  he  had  found  his  long 
cherished  ideal,  to  be  a  veritable  little  maiden,  with  a 
warm  and  loving  heart.  As  he  sat  by  the  window,  looking 
out  upon  the  quiet  beauty  of  the  valley,  on  which  the 
smile  of  the  sweet  spring-time  was  resting,  his  imagination 
14 


1G2  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

was  weaving  a  bright  woof  of  happiness — but  through  it 
there  ran  one  dark  thread — it  was  sorrow  for  the  pastor's 
sorrow.  An  angel's  face  seemed  hovering  over  him, 
and  the  soft,  loving  glances  of  a  pair  of  eyes,  "deeply, 
darkly,  beautifully  blue,"  bathed  his  soul  in  a  flood  of 
ecstasy. 

The  acquaintance  thus  opportunely  begun,  matured 
rapidly.  The  extent  and  variety  of  young  Clifton's  infor- 
mation— the  peculiar  grace  with  which  his  warm  imagina- 
tion invested  every  object  which  came  within  its  range — 
caused  his  society  to  be  highly  appreciated  by  the  pastor. 
His  soul  leaned  on  him  for  its  short  respites  from  melan- 
choly. 

To  see  her  brother,  even  at  brief  intervals,  somewhat 
like  his  former  self,  was  to  Carrie  an  unspeakable  joy  ;  and 
hopefully  she  looked  forward  to  the  time  when  happiness 
would  again  resume  its  empire  in  his  breast.  We  are  not 
positive  as  to  the  fact,  but  judge  from  ensuing  circum- 
stances, that  before  the  expiration  of  a  week,  Carrie  had 
found  the  artist's  society  not  "almost,"  but  far  more 
"agreeable  than  brother's!"  His  vivacity  and  spirit, 
charmed  her  by  very  contrast,  to  the  calm,  even,  dignified 
manner  of  her  brother.  An  angel  had  come  and  stirred 
the  waters  of  her  gentle  bosom,  but  with  maidenly  coyness, 
she  sought  to  conceal  the  fact  even  from  her  own  mental 
vision. 

Certain  we  are,  she  became  the  artist's  guide  ;  conduct- 
ing him  to  all  the  most  charming  localities  in  the  country 
around — scenes  whose  loveliness  might  ravish  even  the 
untutored  soul  of  the  savage.  But  frequently,  after  having 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  163 

arrived  at  their  point  of  destination,  with  memories  singu- 
larly treacherous,  they  seemed  entirely  to  lose  sight  of  the 
object  of  which  they  were  in  search.  Hours  were  spent 
in  that  sort  of  conversation,  doubtless  very  delightful  to 
them,  but  which  we,  in  mercy,  knowing  how  unpalatable  it  is 
to  all  save  to  the  parties  concerned,  will  spare  the  reader 
the  trouble  of  perusing. 

If  the  artist  did  not  make  any  material  advancement  in 
the  divine  art  of  Raphael,  during  his  summer's  residence 
in  the  valley,  he,  at  least,  progressed  astonishingly  in  a 
science  somewhat  allied  to  it.  In  the  "Arm-chair"  on  the 
hillside,  where  two  others  once  had  sat,  with  hearts  thrilling 
under  the  same  influence,  he  breathed  his  love  into  Carrie's 
charmed  ear,  and  was  permitted  to  place  its  seal  upon  her 
fragrant  lips.  Theirs  was  a  more  blest  and  fortunate  love 
than  the  other;  for  they  were  unfettered  by  previous  en- 
gagements, and  had  arrived  at  an  age  to  judge  correctly 
of  their  sentiments,  and  of  the  necessary  qualities  in  each 
to  secure  a  harmonious  and  happy  union. 

When  the  forests  were  clothed  in  the  gorgeous  colors  of 
the  approved  "fall  style,"  Carrie  Seville  had  ceased  to 
be — but  Carrie  Clifton  was  a  yet  more  happy  and  joyous 
being  than  she.  Carrie's  marriage  was  like  shutting 
off  the  last  ray  of  sunlight  from  the  parsonage ;  but  though 
the  pastor  missed  her  gentle  ministrations  of  love,  not  one 
atom  of  selfishness  mingled  in  his  participation  of  her  hap- 
piness. Devoutly  thankful  was  he  that  his  gentle  dove  had 
folded  her  wings  to  rest  upon  a  bosom  so  tenderly  protect- 
ino- — Nor  did  he  seek  to  find  another  to  fill  the  void  in  his 

O 

heart— that  shrine  was  made  sacred  to  one  image  alone— 


164  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

but  he  had  found  that,  which  is  an  anchor  to  the  soul  in 
every  trial,  and  could,  with  calm  resignation  think  of  that 
beloved  one  as  the  "  bride  of  another,"  and  pray  for  the 
happiness  of  their  union ;  and  in  the  faithful  discharge  of 
his  duties,  his  life  passed  away  calmly,  placidly,  and  in  a 
degree — happily. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  165 


CHAPTER    XII. 

"And  a  pleasing  sound 
Came  from  a  fountain — 
Less  like  the  voice  of  sorrow  than  of  love. 

In  vain  I  seek  from  out  the  past 
Some  cherished  wreck  to  save ; 
Affection,  feeling,  Hope  are  dead — 
My  heart  is  its  own  grave. 

Alas!  that  love,  which  is  so  sweet  a  thing, 
Should  ever  cause  guilt,  grief,  or  suffering." 

HAVING  now  disposed  of  our  principal  characters,  we 
might  bring  our  story  to  a  close,  but  that  we  fear  we  have 
not  yet  sufficiently  impressed  our  young  readers  with  the 
sad  consequences  arising  from  youthful  marriage  engage- 
ments— turn  we  then  reluctantly  away  from  the  brief  epi- 
sode of  Carrie's  love  and  wooing  to  resume  the  sad  story 
of  Florence's  blighted  love — reluctantly  we  say — for  it  is 
painful  to  dwell  on  the  night-side  of  a  picture  which  should 
have  been  bright  as  the  sunbeam.  Painful  indeed  is  it  to 
see  the  roses  of  Spring  prematurely  withered — the  morning 
of  life  bereft  of  its  glad  hopes — its  bright  skies  darkened 
into  a  midnight  gloom. 

For  a  time  after  Florence's  return  from  the  city,  she 
experienced  a  feeling  of  joy  not  known  for  many  months 
before  —  this  was  owing  to  her  being  freed  from  the 
restraints  and  follies  of  the  beau  monde,  and  restored  to  the 
wild  woods  of  her  own  home.  Early  as  was  the  season, 
the  genial  temperature  of  the  clime  had  filled  the  trees  and 


166  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

strewed  the  ground  with  flowers ;  and  to  one  who  so  keenly 
appreciated  and  enjoyed  the  beauties  of  nature,  there  was 
that  in  the  still  solemnity  of  those  dark,  grand  old  forests, 
with  their  hills  and  dells  and  sparkling  streams,  which 
caused  a  temporary  cessation  of  the  wild  fever  of  her  heart. 

Much  to  the  chagrin  of  her  father  and  Harry,  she 
wrought  unweariedly  with  her  own  delicate  hands  in  the 
garden ;  arranging  and  re-arranging  the  plants  and  vases 
in  accordance  with  her  own  exquisite  taste.  Briefly,  the 
novelty  wore  off,  and  the  funereal  pall  again  threw  its 
somber  shadows  over  her  soul. 

With  feverish  restlessness  she  wandered  through  the 
lofty  rooms  of  her  splendid  home.  She  sat  down  to  the 
piano,  and  swept  her  fingers  over  the  keys — but  the  tones 
awakened  a  host  of  painful  memories.  There  was  scarce  a 
song  she  had  not  at  some  time  sung  for  him — there  was  not 
one  she  and  Carrie  had  not  learned  together. 

She  fled  hastily  from  it,  and  passing  into  the  library, 
murmured:  "Books,  books!  thou  art  a  sovereign  panacea 
for  mental  ills !  Who  may  say  that  '  angels'  visits  are  few 
and  far  between,'  while  books  claim  a  place  in  the  house- 
hold. Angels  of  mercy !  sure  thou  art,  given  us  to  soothe 
us  in  the  wretched  journey  of  life.  Thou  Mentors  of  the 
heart ! 

'The  burning  soul,  the  burdened  mind, 
In  books  alone  companions  find.' 

1  will  seek  one  that  will  call  into  execrc'ise  all  the  powers 
of  the  intellect,  and  thus  free  me  from  these  haunting  and 
distracting  memories." 

Listlessly  she  glanced  from  volume  to  volume,  and  with 
an  abstracted  manner  selected  one,  and  sat  down  in  a  richly. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  167 

cushioned,  antiquely-carved  chair.  The  library,  of  all  the 
rooms  in  that  lofty  pile  of  buildings,  Avas  the  'one  most  in 
accordance  with  Florence's  refined  and  classic  tastes ;  yet 
she  seemed,  at  the  present,  wholly  unaware  of  its  claims  to 
her  regard — for  she  sat  with  the  book  unopened,  gazing  on 
vacancy. 

The  soft,  warm  light  which  streamed  through  the  stained 
windows,  caused  the  exquisite  busts  and  statues  to  seem 
almost  "things  of  life."  There  were  rows  of  shelves  tow- 
ering one  above  another,  freighted  with  the  wealth  of  mind, 
with  which  Time  has  become  enriched  in  his  triumphal 
march  from  the  misty  realms  of  early  civilization  to  the 
present  glorious  era.  Here  might  the  soul  hold  sweet 
intercourse  with  the  mighty  intellects  of  the  living  as  well 
as  with  those  "  who  though  dead,  yet  live" — secure  from 
time's  oblivion — "  those  whose  names  and  fame  are  above 
the  blight  of  earthly  breath." 

Rousing  at  length  from  her  gloomy  abstraction,  she  ex- 
claimed:  "I  am  chilled  by  the  ghastly  presence  of  this 
statuary — I  must  seek  a  more  cheering  place  to  read." 

She  re-entered  the  drawing-room  and  threw  herself  upon 
a  low  sofa  that  stood  beneath  an  open  casement.  The 
breeze,  which  came  murmurously  through  the  exquisitely- 
wrought  drapery,  was  steeped  with  the  odors  of  that  tropic 
clime ;  and  the  soft  plash  of  the  fountain's  waters,  falling 
into  their  marble  basin,  was  heard  soothingly  without. 
There  was  the  splendor  of  the  East  about  her— everything 
to  gratify  the  inner  and  outer  senses,  yet  was  she — the 
young  heiress  of  all  this  wealth— wretched— far,  far  more 
wretched  than  the  sable-browed  menials  of  the  establish- 
ment, who  bore  the  manacles  of  slavery. 


168  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

Unconsciously  the  book  fell  from  her,  and  lay  half-buried 
in  the  rich  tufting  of  the  carpet — and  her  hands  were 
clasped  nervously  upon  her  eyes,  as  though  perversely  to 
shut  out  from  her  gaze  the  surrounding  beauty;  but  it  was 
from  that  impulse,  with  which  we  instinctively  close  the  eye 
when  some  horrible  picture  thrusts  itself  upon  our  mental 
vision. 

A  servant,  who  had  just  returned  from  the  post-office, 
entered  with  letters,  which  he  handed  to  her.  In  glancing 
over  their  superscriptions,  Florence  found  one  directed  to 
herself  in  the  graceful  chirography  of  Carrie  Neville.  With 
a  cry  of  joy,  she  pressed  it  to  her  lips,  then  she  bethought 
herself,  and  returned  the  others  to  the  servant,  with  direc- 
tions to  leave  them  in  the  library  until  her  father's  return 
from  his  afternoon's  ride. 

Carrie's  letter  was  as  usual,  redolent  with  love  for  her 
friend,  and  grief  for  her  loss.  Florence's  protracted  silence 
called  forth  some  gentle  reproofs,  but  not  a  doubt  or  fear  was 
expressed,  that  it  was  caused  by  an  abatement  of  affection. 
Carrie  could  not  for  a  moment  harbor  such  a  thought  of 
her  friend. 

She  dwelt  with  affecting  pleasure  on  many  incidents  of 
their  school  days,  and  told  of  all  their  favorite  resorts — 
especially  of  the  old  chestnut,  beneath  whose  protecting 
shade  they  had  passed  hours  of  unalloyed  happiness. 
"  You  remember  the  song  we  have  so  often  sung  together, 
in  which  the  following  verse  occurs.  Well  Theo.  and  I 
may  say  to  you,  in  those  slightly  altered  words, 

"  And  now,  although  thou'rt  gone, 

We  go  to  our  favorite  tree, 
Thou  dost  not  hear  us  sigh, 
Yet,  yet  we  sigh  for  thee." 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  169 

An  electric  flash  passed  over  those  beautiful  features, 
and  the  expression  they  gave  forth  was  that  of  the  happy, 

joyous  Florence  of  8 —  valley.     It  was  gone  instantly — 

and  they  became  distorted  with  passion  and  grief.  Crushing 
the  letter  within  her  fingers,  she  exclaimed  vehemently  ; 
"  Tis  false  ! — false — he  does  not  sigh  for  me — else  why  was 
my  love  rejected  as  a  thing  of  scorn — thrown  back  upon  my 
heart  to  corrode  its  life-strings — far,  far  more  kind  the  blow 
which  would  have  stilled  its  pulsation  forever,  than  thus  to 
have  driven  it  forth  to  throb,  throb,  throb,  with  this  crush- 
ing weight  upon  it." 

She  sank  back  upon  the  couch,  and  buried  her  face  in 
its  crimson  pillows.  Then  the  memory  of  the  loved  and 
loving  Carrie  swept  through  her  mind — "Yes,  yes,  my  dar- 
ling Carrie,  thou  dost,  indeed,  pine  for  thy  friend.  The 
only  sighs  that  ruffle  the  peaceful  depths  of  thy  young  soul 
are  those  for  thy  lost  Florence  ;  and  he — why  should  I 
censure  him  ?  Do  not  I  know  my  unworthiness  of  the  boon 
my  soul  craves  ?  Vain  presumption  !  Would  the  eagle 
mate  with  the  earth-fowl?  What  mortal  maiden  dare 
aspire  to  the  love  of  that  nobly-gifted  one  ?" 

She  sobbed  aloud — and  Henry  was  beside  her  !  "  Flo- 
rence," said  he ;  "  what  has  occurred  in  our  absence  to 
grieve  you  thus  ?  you  alarm  me.  Tell  me  whence  the 
cause  of  this  sorrow,  that  I  may  comfort  you  ?" 

"  Nothing,  nothing,  Harry— I  have  just  received  a  long, 
long  letter  from  my  sweet  friend,  Carrie  Neville,  and  I  was 
pained  to  think  I  had  acted  so  unkindly  toward  so  true  and 
tried  a  friend.  I  have  wounded  her  feelings  deeply  by  my 
long,  cold  silence— having  written  her  but  two  hasty  letters 
since  my  return  ;  and  they  were,  I  regret  to  say,  written 
15 


170  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

previously  to  my  going  to  New  Orleans.  My  winter  of 
gayety  left  no  time  at  my  disposal,  to  devote  to  my  absent 
friends." 

Henry's  glance  seemed  almost  to  imply  that  her  plea  was 
scarce  a  sufficient  one  for  the  heavy  traces  of  grief  her  coun- 
tenance bore;  but  if  such  were  his  first  thought,  it  was  soon 
banished  by  others  connected  with  the  one  absorbing  object 
of  his  life,  that  of  ministering  to  her  happiness. 

He  remembered  the  magic  power  of  books  over  her  in 
by-gone  days,  and  now  drew  her  into  the  library  ;  and 
taking  from  thence  a  copy  of  Byron,  led  her  out  through  the 
shady  alleys  of  the  garden  to  a  small  oriental  temple,  over 
which  a  Lamarque  rose  had  thrown  its  mantle  of  green 
leaves  and  snowy  blossoms,  making  it  beautiful  as  a  fairy's 
home. 

He  turned  to  the  pages  in  which  the  genius  of  the  poet 
attains  its  best,  and  purest,  and  loftiest  flights — to  the 
delightful  cantos  of  Childe  Harold  ;  pausing  frequently, 
while  reading,  to  give  the  results  of  his  own  observation  of 
the  interesting  scenes  there  delineated. 

"  But  Florence,  I  am  free  to  confess  that  I  saw  them  with 
an  imperfect  vision  ;  a  sort  of  magnetic  influence,  like  that 
which  points  the  needle  ever  to  the  pole,  turned  my  thoughts 
from  those  delightful  scenes,  to  the  world  beyond  the  bosom 
of  the  Atlantic,  which  held  all  that  was  dear  in  life  to  me. 
I  long  to  view  them  again ;  and  with  you  to  accompany  me 
the  enjoyment  would  be  superlatively  great.  Say,  dearest, 
when  shall  our  marriage  take  place  ?  and  shall  not  our 
bridal  tour  extend  to  Europe  ?" 

With  a  meekness,  which  of  itself  might  have  excited  sus- 
picion that  all  was  not  right,  it  was  so  unlike  the  willful 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  171 

Florence,  she  replied  slowly  and  calmly  ;  "  all  shall  be  as 
you  and  my  father  decide." 

Preparations  of  a  magnificent  character  were  made  for 
the  approaching  nuptials.  Mr.  De  Lisle  would  gratify  the 
vanity  of  his  doting  heart,  by  having  the  bridal  of  his  daugh- 
ter exceed,  in  splendor,  that  of  any  other  which  had  ever 
occurred  in  their  own,  or  the  surrounding  parishes. 

On  the  evening  preceding  her  bridal  Florence  wrote  the 
letter  of  which  Carrie  had  spoken  to  Mr.  Clifton.  She  sat 
at  the  table — her  arm  resting  on  it,  and  her  head  pressed  to 
her  uplifted  hand.  The  pen,  poised  above  the  snowy  sheet, 
seemed  reluctant  to  perform  its  duty.  After  a  considerable 
length  of  time  had  passed,  she  murmured  sadly,  "  Hence- 
forth I  must  forego  even  the  pleasure  of  thy  letters,  dear 
Carrie — those  sweet,  soothing  expressions  of  love,  which 
were  as  balm  to  my  bleeding  spirit.  I  cannot  sustain  my 
part  in  the  sad  drama  to  which  fate  has  destined  me  if  this 
correspondence  be  continued.  Painful  memories  are  re- 
called by  it — recalled — no,  Oh,  no !  that  cannot  be  recalled 
which  is  ever  present.  Carrie,  Carrie,  my  beloved  Carrie — 
alas  !  and  must  I  give  thee  up  too  ?  Yes,  when  the  last  tie 
is  sundered,  then  may  Time,  the  destroyer,  efface  the  sweet 
and  bitter  recollections  of  the  past — that  past  which  must 
henceforth  be  a  blank  to  me — of  which  it  will  be  crime  to 
think." 

A  sense  of  duty  demanded  that  all  connection  with  her 
friends  in  S  vale  should  at  once  and  forever  be 
broken  off ;  and  with  rapid  hand  she  penned  the  letter 
which  would  terminate  her  correspondence  with  Carrie — the 
only  existing  means  of  intercourse  between  them. 

Her  lips  quivered,  and  tears  filled  the  silken  fringes  of 


172  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

her  large,  sad  eyes,  and  her  whole  frame  was  shaken  as  an 
aspen  when  she  attempted  to  write  to  him,  as  it  were,  (for 
well  she  knew  his  eye  would  scan  those  pages)  of  her 
marriage. 

"  Though  I  have  not  written  to  you  for  many  months, 
dearest  Carrie,  there  is  not  a  day — I  might  more  truly 
say  an  hour — that  I  do  not  think  of  you,  and  sigh  at  the  fate 
which  brought  us  together,  that  our  heart-strings  might  be- 
come entwined  only  to  be  torn  apart,  throbbing  with  anguish 
by  a  sad  and  final  separation.  I  miss — how  much,  dear  Car- 
rie, none  may  ever  know — the  gentle,  soothing  influence, 
which  in  times  past,  you  were  wont  to  exert  over  my  willful, 
wayward,  impetuous  nature.  You  spoke  of  all  our  loved 
haunts  —  made  sacred  to  you  by  our  past  enjoyment  of 
them — and  particularly  of  the  "  chestnut."  Do  you  know, 
Carrie,  that  I  should  love  to  be  buried  beneath  it ;  and 
you — you  would  come — but  why  am  I  writing  thus — it  is  of 
another  subject  I  would  speak.  Before  this  reaches  you  I  will 
have  become  the  bride  of  Henry  Soule.  He  has  loved  me 
from  my  childhood  with  a  passion  deep  and  fervent  as  the 
most  exacting  heart  could  demand."  (Somewhat  of  her  for- 
mer pride  dictated  the  latter  sentence — he  should  know,  that 
though  his  love  had  been  withheld,  another's  was  hers,  of 
which  even  she,  with  all  the  inordinate  cravings  of  her 
heart  might  be  proud.)  "Immediately  after  our  bridal 
we  take  passage  for  Marseilles — a  sea  voyage  having  been 
recommended  by  our  physician  for  my  father's  health, 
which,  I  regret  to  say,  is  still  precarious.  Our  tour  will 
extend  throughout  the  continent  of  Europe,  generally,  and 
I  cannot  now  say  when  we  shall  return,  or  where  my  new 
home  will  be  located.  Promise  me,  darling,  in  conclusion, 


EAKLT  ENGAGEMENTS.  173 

that  you  will  not  under  any  circumstances  think  you 
can  ever  cease  to  be  dear  to  the  heart  of  your  classmate, 
Florence  De  Lisle." 

By  leaving  the  time  of  her  return,  and  her  future  resi- 
dence in  doubt,  Florence  put  a  check  to  further  communi- 
cations from  her,  without  wounding  her  refined  and 
exquisite  sensibilities. 

The  letter  was  sealed  and  sent.  Florence  wept  until  it 
seemed  the  lachrymal  ducts  were  exhausted  of  their  briny 
floods.  Many  months  passed  ere  again  a  tear  moistened 
the  sorrows  of  her  heart. 

It  was  Florence  De  Lisle's  bridal  eve  !  Fanny,  in  a 
flutter  of  delight,  was  arraying  her  in  the  style  of  magnifi- 
cence, befitting  the  bride  of  a  millionaire,  exclaiming,  from 
time  to  time,  on  her  own  tardiness,  "  I  'm  so  flustrated,  I 
does  everything  wrong  —  my  fingers  is  all  thumbs,  sure, 
this  evening  —  I  's  surely  the  stupidest  colored  woman  in 
the  State.  Mas'er  Henry  will  be  clean  tired  out  waitin'" — 
and  so  on. 

It  is  wonderful  what  an  aversion  the  African  race  in 
America  have  to  being  called  negroes,  or  "niggers,"  in  its 
vulgarly  abbreviated  form — the  term  "colored  people," 
though,  has  a  smack  of  gentility  about  it  quite  grateful  to 
their  ears. 

"  Mammy,"  Florence's  nurse,  had  never  felt  her  impor- 
tance quite  so  much*  in  her  life,  as  upon  "  her  child's  " 
wedding  day.  She  moved  about  with  as  much  alacrity  as 
age,  and  the  ponderous  weight  of  flesh  her  limbs  had  to 
sustain,  would  admit  of  —  giving  directions,  and  counter- 
manding them,  perhaps,  with  the  same  breath. 

At  length  she  mounted  the  stairs  to  the  bridal  chamber, 


174  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

to  give  it  its  "polishing  touch,"  and  from  thence,  proceeded 
to  Florence's  room,  and  there  witnessed,  with  a  strong  feel- 
ing of  maternal  pride,  her  enrobing  for  the  bridal. 

She  was  delighted  with  the  richness  of  the  bridal  trous- 
seau; and  when  the  orange  wreath  was  twined  amid  the 
raven  tresses  of  the  bride  expectant,  and  the  magnificent 
Honiton  vail  swept  in  rich  folds  about  her,  the  faithful  crea- 
ture's admiration  exceeded  all  bounds. 

"  Look,  look,  my  pet,  and  see  how  grand  and  beautiful 
you  look,"  said  she,  adjusting  the  glass  so  as  to  give  a  re- 
flection of  her  entire  form. 

Florence  turned  from  it  —  a  cold,  sickening  shudder  per- 
vading her.  Those  snowy  robes  seemed  as  grave-clothes 
to  her  ;  and  the  wreath  —  alas  !  when  last  a  wreath  had 
pressed  her  brow,  his  hand  had  placed  it  there,  and  he  had 
pronounced  her  beautiful.  Why  came  that  thought  ? 

"  And  thrust  itself  between  her  and  the  light; 
What  business  had  it  there  at  such  a  time?" 

Surely,  there  was  no  resemblance  between  that  pale  face 
and  snowy  wreath,  and  the  blooming  face  and  gorgeous 
wreath  of  that  whilom  time  to  call  it  up ! 

"  Say  to  my  father,"  said  she  to  the  servant,  in  calm, 
firm  tones,  "  that  I  await  his  coming."  She  did  not  pro- 
nounce the  name  of  him  so  soon  to  be  her  husband. 

They  came  —  Mr.  De  Lisle  with  more,  alacrity  than  was 
prudent ;  for  he  was  now  become  a  confirmed  invalid. 

He  placed  the  hand  of  his  beloved  child  in  that  of  Hen- 
ry's, and  while  tears  of  joy  glistened  in  his  eye,  he  pro- 
nounced his  blessings  on  them,  and  called  the  present  the 
proudest  and  happiest  moment  of  his  life. 


EAKLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  175 

Henry,  too,  with  all  the  ardor  of  a  lover  of  those  climes 
where  the  blood  flows,  like  melted  lava,  through  its  chan- 
nels, breathed  forth  his  rapture. 

The  folding- doors  were  thrown  wide  apart,  and  the  bril- 
liant assembly  remained  motionless,  while  the  holy  man 
spoke  those  words  which  merged  two  beings  into  one.  And 
"  they  shall  be  no  more  twain,  but  one,"  is  the  emphatic 
declaration  of  Him — the  founder  of  our  moral  institutions. 

When  the  ceremony  was  over,  Florence  became  aroused 
from  her  apathy,  and  replied,  with  her  usual  grace,  to  the 
congratulations  of  her  friends.  And  whether  it  was,  that 
dissimulation  had  now  become  both  easy  and  natural  to 
her,  or  that  seeing  no  cause  for  unhappiness  in  a  union 
whose  relations  were  so  congenial,  her  friends,  with  one 
accord,  pronounced  it  a  most  "  capital  match." 

Perhaps  our  judgment  is  never  more  at  fault,  than  when 
pronouncing  upon  the  merits  of  a  marriage.  "We  see  as 
through  a  glass  darkly,"  supposing  that  if  externals  agree — 
the  position  in  life  — the  fortune  —  the  education — if  these 
harmonize — in  such  a  union  will  be  found  all  the  happiness 
which  this  sin-stained  world  affords.  The  proportion  of 
marriages  where  the  parties  are  of  discordant  tastes  and 
dispositions,  as  well  as  of  outward  circumstances,  vastly 
outnumbers  those  of  entire  congeniality;  and  it  is,  perhaps, 
wisely  so  ordered,  since  it  is,  by  such  means,  that  life,  in 
general,  becomes  a  more  equal  and  harmonious  affair. 
The  wife  of  domestic  tastes,  who  would  naturally  be  all  en- 
grossed with  the  inferior  things  of  life,  will  insensibly  be 
lifted  up  by  her  husband  into  the  upper  strata,  where  mind 
predominates.  The  gentleness  of  the  wife,  again,  may 
prove  a  powerful  curb  to  the  stormy  passions  of  the  hus- 


176  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

band — even  her  extravagance  may  act  as  a  counterpoise  to 
his  penuriousness  —  or  her  vivacious  disposition,  remove 
somewhat  of  the  gravity  of  his ;  and  thus,  acting  as  "  checks 
and  balances,"  the  broad  channel  of  life  moves  onward, 
with  an  even  and  steady  flow. 

In  the  present  marriage,  vain  were  the  kindly  expressed 
hopes  of  a  "  long  life  of  happiness  "  for  the  young  couple. 
Vain,  vain  indeed  —  for  the  love  which  should  have  ce- 
mented the  union,  existed  with  but  one  of  the  parties  ;  and 
the  guiding  principle  of  the  other  was  merely  a  sense  of  duty. 
Even  as  Florence  leaned  on  the  arm  of  her  much-wronged 
husband,  receiving  the  kind  congratulations  of  their  friends, 
the  only  hope,  or  wish,  of  her  wretched  bosom,  was  that 
for  the  peace  which  the  grave  yields. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  177 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

If  the  love  of  tho  heart  is  blighted,  it  buddeth  not  again; 

If  that  pleasant  song  is  forgotten,  it  is  to  be  learnt  no  more ; 

Yet  often  will  thought  look  back,  and  weep  over  early  affection, 

And  the  dim  notes  of  that  pleasant  song  will  be  heard  as  a  reproachful  spirit, 

Moaning  in  .iEolian  strains  over  the  desert  of  the  heart.    TUPPEE. 

Her  heart  is  geared: 

A  sweet  light  has  been  thrown  upon  its  life, 
To  make  its  darkness  the  more  terrible. 

And  this  is  love.  LAXDO.V. 

THE  excitement  consequent  upon  the  festivities  of  the 
joyous  occasion  of  his  daughter's  marriage,  proved  more 
than  Mr.  De  Lisle  could  bear,  in  his  then  enfeebled  state. 
His  system,  which  had  for  months  been  the  prey  of  a  re- 
lentless disease,  received  a  shock,  at  this  time,  from  which 
it  never  afterward  recovered. 

The  purposed  bridal  tour  was  abandoned  ;  and  Florence, 
owing  to  the  constant  attentions  which  her  father  required, 
and  which  her  affection  prompted  her  to  bestow,  found 
"small  leisure  "to  brood  over  her  secret  sorrows.  But 
none  the  less  fiercely  waged  the  warfare  of  her  bosom — like 
Yesuvius's  flames,  wildly  raged  those  fires  within,  and,  at 
times,  their  hot  breath  rose  scorchingly  to  the  brain  —  and 
reason  sat  totteringly  on  her  throne. 

At  intervals,  she  would  yield  to  Henry's  request,  that  he 
should  take  her  place  beside  the  couch  of  languishing ;  and 
then  stealing  through  the  misty  twilight's  shadows,  down 
the  luxuriant  alleys  of  the  garden,  to  its  remotest  bounds, 


178  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

where  stood  a  clump  of  magnolias ;  she  would  throw  her- 
self in  utter  abandonment  upon  the  sod ;  but  though  she 
lay  writhing  in  agony— though  her  bosom  heaved  to  burst- 
ing— not  a  sound  broke  the  stillness  of  the  night. 

"  Oh  !  when,  when  shall  this  struggle  cease  ?  How  long, 
how  long  a  time  the  heart  is  breaking !  Death !  thy  with- 
ering breath  rests  on  me ;  wherefore,  then,  dost  thou,  fiend- 
like,  forbear  to  strike  the  final  blow?  And  I,  who  so  abhor 
deception,  must  day  by  day — but  they  know  it  not — none 
know  it  but  him — none,  none  shall  know  it !" 

M.  De  Lisle  continued  rapidly  to  decline,  and  his  sudden 
demise  was  anticipated  by  all,  save  Florence.  The  wings 
of  time,  in  its  onward  course,  soon  bore  him  to  that  point, 
whence  the  soul's  dark  pilgrimage  on  earth  is  ended  and  it 
enters  the  mysterious  world  beyond.  He  died — blessings 
lingering  on  his  latest  breath,  for  the  two  objects  of  his 
love;  dying  in  the  happy  conviction  that  life's  best  and 
brightest  blessings  were  secured  to  them. 

It  was  a  severe  shock  to  Florence ;  for,  notwithstanding 
she  had  nursed  him  with  unwearied  devotion,  witnessing 
daily  his  failing  strength,  she  had  never  admitted  to  her 
breast  the  dark  thought  of  the  possibility  of  his  death. 
She  was  paralyzed  by  it — her  long  overtaxed  powers  gave 
way  beneath  the  fearful  stroke ;  and  weeks  passed  ere 
again  she  awoke  to  consciousness.  Well,  perhaps,  had  it 
been,  had  she  never  wakened  more ;  for  in  the  wild  frenzy 
of  that  "  fever-dream,"  she  betrayed  to  him,  who  of  all 
others  should  not  have  known  it,  the  secret  guarded  so 
sedulously  aforetime. 

When  she  unclosed  her  eyes,  in  the  dawn  of  restored 
reason,  the  darkness  of  the  chamber  rendered  every  object 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  179 

vague  and  indistinct.  She  attempted  to  raise  her  hand  as 
if  to  push  from  her  the  mist  that  obscured  her  vision,  and 
found  it  powerless.  Then  remembrance  came  slowly  and 
painfully  to  her  of  her  marriage,  her  father's  illness  and 
death.  The  odor  of  medicine,  which  pervaded  the  room, 
and  her  excessive  debility  convinced'her  that  she  had  been 
very  ill  —  that  her  feet  were  even  then  pressing  the 
threshold  of  the  spirit-world.  The  thought  brought  no 
terror  to  her — but  joy,  joy  unspeakable ! 

A  sense  of  drowsiness  oppressed  her,  which  she  imagined 
to  be  the  approach  of  death ;  and  calmly  and  sweetly  she 
sank  into  a  deep  slumber,  murmuring:  "  Heavenly  Father, 
receive  my  spirit." 

When  she  again  awoke,  the  morning's  sun  was  streaming 
in  golden  rays,  through  the  partly-opened  shutters,  and  her 
old  African  nurse  sat  beside  her  bed.  She  looked  ste<od- 
fastly  at  her,  trying  to  concentrate  her  wandering  senses, 
then  murmured  her  name  in  low,  feeble  tones. 

It  was  a  happy  moment  for  "  the  good  and  faithful  ser- 
vant," whose  heart  throbbed  with  a  mother's  love  for  her, 
when  Florence  once  more  recognized  her.  She  told  her 
with  a  volubility  so  rapid,  that  Florence's  languid  faculties 
could  scarce  keep  pace  with  it — of  her  long  illness — and  of 
the  tenderness  with  which  her  husband  had  nursed  her 
through  it;  and  that  the  physician  had  declared,  if  she 
recovered,  it  would  be  more  owing  to  Henri's  unremitting 
attentions,  than  to  his  skill. 

Florence  listened  in  pain — feeling  how  unworthy  a  reci- 
pient she  was  of  so  much  kindness  from  him.  When  old 
"  Mammy"  expressed  her  delight  "  that  she  would  soon  be 
well  again,"  she  replied: 


180  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

"Ah!  it  was  a  cruel  kindness  to  bring  me  back  to  life. 
I  long  to  be  freed  these  earthly  fetters.  1  do  not  wish  to 
live," — then  as  though  she  thought  the  old  servant  would 
be  shocked  by  such  an  exclamation,  she  added:  "Since 
my  father  is  gone." 

"But  your  husband — Master  Harry — you  wish  to  live 
for  his  sake?" 

"  No,  no,  I  tell  you,  I  pine  to  be  at  rest.  He  would  be 
far  happier  if  I  were  gone.  He  would  then  get  a  better 
wife  than  I  could  ever  be." 

While  they  were  yet  conversing,  Henry  noiselessly 
entered,  and  perceiving  that  Florence's  mind  had  regained 
its  equilibrium,  his  bosom  swelled  with  various  conflicting 
emotions.  Throughout  the  progress  of  her  disease,  his 
hands  had  administered  every  antidote  prescribed  to  arrest 
its  course ;  and  his  ear  had  bent  to  catch  her  faintest  utter- 
ance ;  but  though  he  had  heard  another's  name  and  not  his 
own  trembling  upon  those  precious  lips,  he  would  not  enter- 
tain a  thought  other  than  that  the  beloVed  of  his  soul 
reciprocated  with  equal  ardor  his  affection. 

At  times,  in  the  delirium  of  the  fever,  her  spirit  was 
lifted  from  the  dark  present  and  borne  back  to  the  "  white 
and  blessed"  past:  smiles  would  brighten  her  flushed  and 
burning  brow,  and  the  music  of  her  wild,  gay  laugh  break 
with  strange  mockery  on  the  stillness  of  the  death  chamber, 
as  it  were. 

Henry  would  crush  out  the  painful  suspicion  which  came 
peering  through  the  windows  of  his  soul  with  the  thought, 
"  that  school  days  are  always  accounted  bright  and  joyous 
ones;  and  Florence's  were  rendered  more  abundantly  so,  by 
the  indulgence  of  her  teachers  and  the  kind  love  of  her 


EARLY  EKGAGEMENTS.  181 

friends.     It  should  then  afford  no  surprise,  that  the  remem- 
brance of  them  causes  her  such  pleasure." 

And  when  those  transient  gleams  of  sunshine  were  suc- 
ceeded by  groans,  deep  and  agonizing,  as  if  the  life-chords 
were  suddenly  riven — every  pang,  that  rent  her  bosom, 
finding  a  response  in  his — he  would  again  seek  to  deceive 
himself  with  the  thought  that  they  were  but  the  ebullitions 
of  the  direful  disease  that  preyed  upon  her.  However 
though  he  thus  disguised  the  fact,  some  lingerings  of  bitter- 
ness remained. 

At  present,  however,  joy  was  the  predominant  emotion 
of  his  bosom — joy,  in  that  she  was  restored  to  him  at  the 
moment  she  seemed  about  to  be  snatched  from  his  embrace 
forever.  He  approached  her  gently,  in  tender  considera- 
tion of  the  morbid  acuteness  of  her  invalid  senses,  and  lay- 
ing his  arm  softly  over  her  bosom,  he  reclined  his  head 
upon  the  pillow  and  pressed  his  face  close  to  hers,  saying : 
"You  are  better,  dearest?" 

When  his  head  was  lifted  from  the  pillow,  her  glance 
rested  scrutinizingly  upon  his  pale  and  haggard  counte- 
nance; and  she  said  with  much  emotion:  "Aunt  Hannah 
tells  me  I  have  been  very  ill ;  and  I  perceive  jon  are  worn 
out  with  fatigue — with  your  efforts  to  preserve  my  life. 
This  was  unwise,  Harry;  I  regret  that  I  have  caused  you 
so  much  anxiety  and  fatigue." 

"  Do  not  speak  thus,  dearest.  Am  I  not  far  more  than 
repaid  by  finding  you  better? — that  you  know  me  once 
more?" 

With  a  tenderness  like  that  of  woman's  and  a  like  inge- 
nuity in  devices  to  beguile  the  weary  hours  of  convales- 


182  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

cence,  Harry  watched  over  her  —  culling  every  morning 
the  choicest  floral  gems  to  lay  upon  her  pillow ;  hoping  that 
their  bright  faces,  fresh  from  the  morning's  ablution,  and 
withal  their  sweet  exhalations,  might  afford  somewhat  of 
pleasure  to  her  languid  senses. 

When  she  grew  strong  enough  to  leave  her  weary  couch, 
he  would  lift  her  tenderly,  as  though  she  were  an  infant, 
and  seating  her  in  an  Elizabethan  chair,  draw  it  to  the  large 
French  windows,  and  pushing  back  the  curtains,  reveal  to 
her  gaze  the  magnificent  scenes  of  natural  beauty,  which 
surrounded  their  mansion.  He  would  read  to  her  from 
some  favorite  author,  with  a  voice  softened  to  the  lowest 
tone ;  in  fact,  there  was  nothing  he  did  not  do,  which  he 
thought  would  afford  her  the  slightest  pleasure. 

Sad  are  we  to  relate  it,  that  her  grief  and  his  happiness 
each  reached  their  climax  simultaneously.  His,  by  having 
her  again  so  far  restored  to  health  as  to  join  him  in  walks 
through  the  delightful  shade  of  the  garden — his  arm  sup- 
porting her  tottering  steps ;  and  hers,  in  that  all  his  love 
and  kindness  were  so  unmerited. 

She  sought  to  burst  the  fetters  that  bound  her  spirit,  and 
to  mete  unto  him  the  full  measure  of  love  which  his  de- 
manded ;  but,  alas !  the  heart  too  oft  disdains  all  self-con- 
trol. Another's  magic  "  sesame"  had  unsealed  its  treasures, 
and  for  him,  whose  rightful  possession  they  were,  but  a 
moiety  remained. 

Frequently,  after  some  demonstration  of  kindness  on  his 
part,  goaded  on  to  distraction  by  the  reproaches  of  con- 
science, together  with  grief  for  her  father's  loss,  and  that 
grief  which  was  yet  of  a  "  darker  dye,"  she  would  give 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  183 

way  to  the  most  passionate  bursts  of  sorrow ;  and  when 
surprised  by  Harry,  to  his  earnest  interrogatories  as  to  its 
cause,  she  would  gasp,  "  My  father " 

"  Yes  dearest,  your  father  is  now  at  rest ;  free  from  all 
the  tortures  of  disease,  from  which,  we  with  all  our  love 
and  care,  could  not  shield  him.  Can  you  not  find  consola- 
tion in  this  ?" 

But  refusing  his  offers  of  comfort,  she  would  continue  to 
give  way  to  the  violence  of  her  grief,  until  worn  out  by  its 
very  excess.  Then  there  were  days  in  which  the  opposite 
extreme  was  manifest  —  and  far,  far  more  sad  and  touch- 
ing to  witness — days  when,  sunk  into  an  apathetic  state, 
she  spoke  not,  or  seemed  conscious  of  the  presence  of  those 
about  her.  Then  she  would  rouse  up,  and  perform  her 
duties  half  mechanically;  seeking  to  be  interested  in  all 
that  concerned  Harry,  even  smiling  upon  him — but  it  was 
a  smile  so  ghastly,  it  chilled  the  heart,  it  meant  to  brighten. 

Such  a  state  of  things  could  not  long  exist  without 
awakening  Harry's  suspicion  of  its  real  cause.  Incidents 
innumerable,  came  swelling  upon  memory's  tide,  to  con- 
vince him  of  the  truth  of  his  dark  surmises.  He  asked 
himself  the  question,  If  it  were  true  that  she  had  be- 
come more  fondly  attached  to  another  than  to  himself, 
what  had  caused  their  separation  ?  He  thrust  from  him  the 
first  thought  which  arose  in  his  mind,  and  though  he 
sought  eagerly  for  another  reason,  there  was  none  other 
of  any  plausibility.  It  was,  then,  that  her  proud,  and 
lofty  and  honorable  spirit,  had  led  her  to  fulfill  the  vows  of 
their  youth,  even  at  the  sacrifice  of  her  own  happiness. 
This  thought,  once  admitted  to  his  bosom,  all  the  bright 
hopes  of  life  were  lost  in  its  dark  shadow. 


184  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

If  a  lifetime  of  agony  had  been  crowded  into  the  last 
few  months  of  Florence's  existence — Harry  endured  an 
age  of  suffering  in  a  few  moments.  It  was  not  only  grief 
at  the  rending  to  atoms  the  beautiful  temple  of  his  bosom, 
but  intensified  to  madness,  that  his  hands  had  dealt  the 
assassin  blow,  to  the  all  of  joy,  of  the  heart  he  cherished 
so  fondly. 

Feeling  that  associations,  of  a  most  poignant,  and  soul- 
harrowing  nature,  were  alone  connected  with  his  presence, 
he  forbore  to  intrude  upon  her ;  and  plunged  with  a  reck- 
less step  into  the  wildest  recesses  of  the  forest.  Its  somber 
shadows  alone  seemed  in  perfect  harmony  with  his  feelings. 

And  Florence,  in  her  gloomy  absorption,  did  not  perceive 
that  a  cloud  was  arisen  in  another  part  of  her  horizon, 
threatening  to  add  to  the  darkness  which  already  en- 
shrouded her. 

And  thus  they  lived — the  same  roof  sheltering  each, 
but  how  fearful  and  vast  the  distance  which  separated 
them. 

******** 

"I  cannot  live  thus — it  must  not  be — this  cold  estrange- 
ment is  congealing  my  very  heart's  blood.  Ties  which  the 
grave  alone  can  sever,  unite  us,  therefore  mine  is  not  the 
power,  to  restore  her  to  him  for  whom  she  pines  in  silent 
agony — but  surely,  love  such  as  mine,  though  powerless 
to  compensate  her  for  that  which  she  mourns,  may  yet 
win  her  to  partial  happiness.  If  my  hands  have  placed  the 
crown  of  thorns  upon  that  bleeding  spirit,  mine  shall  bind 
those  welling  wounds.  Henceforth,  my  every  effort  of 
life  shall  be,  to  become  worthy  of  her  nobly  generous 
sacrifice." 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  185 

He  sprang  up  from  beneath  the  massive  tree,  upon 
whose  branches  the  long  dank  mosses  waved  as  funereal 
palls,  the  frenzied  tones  in  which  he  began  to  speak, 
giving  way  at  the  close,  to  those  of  a  hopeful  character. 
Pushing  aside  the  rank  undergrowth  which  impeded  his 
progress,  he  sped  with  a  light  and  rapid  step  homeward. 
The  hope  but  just  expressed,  that  love  such  as  his,  might 
meet  with  its  reward,  gleaming  through  his  darkened  heart, 
like  a  sunbeam  through  the  grated  windows  of  the  con- 
vict's gloomy  cell. 

He  entered  her  boudoir,  from  whose  sacred  precincts 
he  had  exiled  himself;  and  found  her  seated  on  a  divan, 
pale  and  motionless — her  hands  folded,  as  if  in  hopeless 
resignation — looking  rather,  as  a  rare  piece  of  statuary, 
from  some  heaven-inspired  chisel,  than  a  being  over  which 
the  wondrous  principle  of  life  held  sway. 

He  approached  her — sat  beside  her — and  twining  his 
arms  gently  about  her,  drew  her  fondly  to  his  bosom, 
without  having  called  forth  any  seeming  recognition  of  his 
presence. 

He  spoke  to  her  in  that  -tone  so  peculiarly  grateful  to  the 
heart  of  the  young  mother  in  expectancy — of  his  happiness 
at  the  anticipated  birth  of  their  child. 

"  Our  Heavenly  Father,  dearest,  will  give  us  a  cherub, 
whose  angel  presence,  will  brighten  our  gloomy  home,  and 
restore  happiness  to  us  once  more." 

Happiness  !  how  the  word  jarred  on  the  heart,  around 
which  despair  had  coiled  itself,  crushing  out  the  hope 
which  gave  it  birth.  "Never!  Never"  burst  from  her  lips 
in  tones  so  low,  and  despairing,  it  seemed  as  if  the  heart 
itself  had  broken  in  giving  them  utterance — his  arm  was 
16 


186  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

withdrawn  with  sudden  violence  from  about  her  —  and 
then,  as  if  somewhat  recalled  by  it,  she  added,  "  for 
my  father,  who  would  have  hailed  its  birth  so  joyfully — 
he  is  not  here — he  is  gone — gone." 

It  was  Harry's  last  effort  to  woo  her  troubled  soul  to 
peace.  Throughout  that  night  of  splendor,  while  the 
moonbeams  quivered  and  played  in  silvery  masses  of 
light,  over  the  regal  buildings  of  Bellefontaine,  its  wretched 
owner,  as  though  pursued  by  fiends,  was  threading,  madly, 
wildly,  the  dark  intricacies  of  the  forest.  Upon  the  edge 
of  a  morass,  many  miles  distant  from  home,  he  sank  down 
in  a  deadly  swoon,  frantically  exclaiming ;  "The  curse  of 
Cain  be  upon  me — I  have  murdered  her — she,  who  was 
dearer  than  my  own  soul !"  *  *  *  * 

This  is  but  a  record  of  one  hastily-formed,  illy-considered 
marriage  engagement.  In  our  brief  existence,  numbers  of 
such,  quite  as  sorrowful,  have  come  under  our  notice.  In 
such  instances  the  Holy  estate  exists  but  in  name.  Be- 
tween the  parties  a  wide,  illimitable  ocean  spreads  its  dreary 
waste,  on  which  not  one  sweet  gale  of  hope  is  borne. 
Better,  far  better  the  sorrow  of  the  grave.  For  when  the 
grass  grows  green  and  soft  upon  it,  other  hopes  may  spring 
up  in  the  place  of  those  made  desolate.  But  the  widow- 
hood of  the  heart! — in  its  Upas  shade,  all  hope  is  blighted. 
Strangely  sad  as  it  may  seem,  myriads  have  hewn  the 
sepulcher  of  their  own  happiness. 

This  custom,  which  is  so  severely  to  be  censured,  pre- 
vails to  a  remarkable  extent  in  the  Southern  States,  and 
those  bordering  on  them.  Before  young  ladies'  judgments 
are  deemed  sufficiently  mature  by  their  mothers  to  pur- 
chase a  costly  dress,  they  esteem  themselves  fully  competent 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  187 

to  select  a  husband  to  pilot  them  over  the  tempestuous  sea 
of  life.  Engagements  of  marriage  are  frequently  made 
•with  as  little  reflection,  as  an  engagement  for  a  walk,  or  an 
evening  party — and  if,  as  in  most  cases,  in  a  few  weeks  or 
months  marriage  renders  the  engagement  a  finality,  an 
entire  and  complete  wreck  of  earthly  happiness,  is  usually 
the  result  of  this  hasty  and  imprudent  procedure.  Or  if 
delayed,  some  trifling  miff,  is  made  the  excuse  for  its 
sunderance,  to  the  bitter  grief,  perhaps,  of  one  of  the 
parties.  And  if  it  be  the  maiden  who  acts  thus  fickly 
(and  the  constancy  of  the  sex  is  not  in  good  credit),  and 
at  the  time,  feels  no  pangs  of  conscience  for  the  act,  let  me 
warn  her  that,  to  a  woman  of  refined  sensibilities,  after 
years  of  reflection,  with  "  its  sober,  second  thought,"  will 
cause  the  perjured  vow  to  become  "  the  thorn  in  the 
flesh" — the  gall  drop  in  the  honeyed  cup,  it  may  be,  within 
her  grasp.  But  yet,  better — far  better,  say  we,  the  broken 
vow — than  the  broken  heart  and  the  life-long  of  wretched- 
ness— better  the  sacrifice  of  one,  than  of  both. 

Early  engagements,  we  reiterate,  are  pregnant  with  evil. 
Perhaps  some  bright-eyed  maiden  may  point,  complacently, 
to  the  happy  union  of  a  friend,  to  prove  the  assertion  false. 
There  are  "  exceptions  to  all  general  rules,"  we  know,  and 
there  may  be  some  few  to  this  also  ;  but  we  would  not 
like  to  hazard  so  much,  on  the  hope  (which  we  consider  as 
almost  baseless)  of  proving  the  exception. 

The  lover,  of  the  maiden  of  fifteen,  is  almost  certain  to 
become  her  derision,  scorn,  perhaps  detestation  at  twenty- 
three — and  the  man  of  twenty-eight,  rarely  ever  permits 
her  to  preside  over  his  home,  as  the  mistress  of  his  heart, 
who  had  captivated  his  boyish  fancy. 


188  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 

We  have  been  trying  to  recall  an  expression  of  Sir 
Walter  Scott — that  wonderful  savan  of  the  heart — to  bear 
us  out  in  our  assertion.  We  are  unable,  however,  to  give 
it  in  his  words,  but  think  we  may  venture  to  give  the  senti- 
ment. It  is  to  this  effect:  that  it  is  a  fortunate  circum- 
stance, that  few  marry  their  "first  love;"  for  years  of 
maturity  rarely  ever  sanction  the  choice  of  our  youthful 
enthusiasm. 

We  ask  our  young  readers  to  reflect  on  the  sad  conse- 
quences resulting  from  one  Early  Engagement;  hoping  that 
it  may  prove  a  beacon-light,  to  warn  them  of  the  rock,  on 
which  so  much  treasure  has  been  lost — treasure,  compared 
with  which,  earthly  wealth  is  but  as  the  "small  dust  in  the 
balance." 


FLORENCE; 

A  SEQUEL  TO  EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

"The  baby  still  slumber'd, 
And  smil'd  in  her  face  as  she  bended  her  knee. 
'Oh  bless'd  be  that  warning, 
My  child,  thy  sleep  adorning, 
For  I  know  that  the  angels  are  whispering  to  thee.' " 

"  They  are  keeping 
Bright  watch  o'er  thy  sleeping." — LOVER. 

"Ah!  broken  is  the  golden  bowl, 

The  spirit  flown  forever : 
Let  the  bell  toll,  a  saintly  soul 
Floats  on  the  Stygian  river." — E.  A.  Poz. 

ANCIENT  historians  tell,  that  in  that  land  whence  the  ear- 
liest beams  of  civilization  emanated,  there  was  once  a  lofty 
statue  whose  stony  heart  poured  forth  a  strain  of  melody 
when  the  first  beams  of  the  morning's  sun  put  to  flight 
night's  darkness.  Even  thus  did  Florence's  heart  ring 
forth  a  joyous  melody — for  a  "sweet  light"  had  stolen 
over  its  darkness. 

With  strange  and  indescribable  emotions  she  received 
into  her  arms  the  little  being  whose  heart  had  caught  its 
tiny  stroke  from  hers,  and  whose  veins  were  filled  with  the 

same  crimson  current.    As  she  gazed  on  this  little  creature 

189 


1 90  FLOKENCE ;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

of  life  and  beauty — the  fledgeling  of  her  own  bosom — the 
long-broken  chain  was  reclasped !  the  void  filled !  happi- 
ness once  more  was  hers !  From  the  cleft  rock  the  pure 
waters  of  hope  and  love  gushed  forth  refreshing  into  life 
all  of  the  joy  of  other  days.  Life  was  henceforth  no 
longer  objectless — for  to  her  must  cling  the  tendrils  of  this 
fragile  flower  for  its  protection,  support,  even  for  life. 

Of  the  bliss  of  those  early  days  of  maternal  love  none 
may  conceive,  save  the  breast  like  hers,  whence  happiness 
has  long  been  an  alien.  The  unsealing  of  that  fount  of 
love  ever  marks  a  bright  era  in  woman's  life,  for  she  is  so 
constituted  that  her  highest  and  purest  happiness  is  found 
in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  wife  and  mother.  We 
deem  it  not  a  weakness  in  Florence,  who  had  thus  suddenly 
been  lifted  from  the  depths  of  despair  to  the  heights  where 
the  sunlight  rested,  that  at  times  she  should  give  way  to 
nervous  fears  lest  a  breath  might  waft  her  cherub  from  her 
embrace  forever.  Often,  when  folded  to  sleep  in  his  snowy 
bed,  lying  still  and  motionless  as  though  devoid  of  life,  his 
breathing  too  faint  to  be  perceptible,  she  would  bend  over 
him  in  affright,  gradually  lowering  her  face  in  increasing 
trepidation  closely  and  yet  more  closely  to  those  rosebud 
lips,  to  ascertain  if  life  were  yet  exhaled ;  and  when  unable 
to  detect  the  slightest  respiration,  and  fearing  to  press  her 
hand  upon  the  fount  of  life  lest  to  find  it  congealed — when 
that  climax  of  anguish  was  reached  in  th.e  thought  that  her 
angel  was  removed  back  to  the  heavenly  fold — even  then  a 
smile  of  angelic  sweetness  would  suddenly  flit  over  those 
stilly  features — the  tiny  arms  would  be  raised  in  a  flutter 
of  joy,  and  the  whole  frame  would  seem  thrilling  under 
some  powerful  emotion.  When  this  singularly  beautiful 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  191 

phenomenon  passed  away,  the  smile  only  lingering,  over- 
come by  the  revulsion  of  feeling  she  would  sink  down, 
exclaiming  fervently,  "  Oh !  God !  I  thank  thee !" 

It  is  a  beautiful  superstition  of  both  the  Irish  and  the 
Hindostanee,  that  when  smiles  burst  over  the  face  of  the 
infant  slumberer,  and  its  little  form  is  tremulous,  apparently, 
Avith  joy,  angels  are  holding  converse  with  it.  There  seems 
truth  as  well  as  beauty  in  the  superstition,  for  beautiful 
objects  and  pleasant  communications  alone  wreathe  the  face 
with  smiles  and  fill  the  heart  with  joy.  Beautiful  indeed 
must  those  angelic  visitants  seem  to  the  unstained  heart, 
and  sweet  their  messages  of  love  to  cause  the  little  being 
to  thrill  with  happiness,  and  the  tiny  arms  to  be  uplifted 
with  nervous  energy  to  throw  off  earth's  fetters  and  join 
the  "blessed  surrounding  throng."  It  is  only  in  the  dawn 
of  existence — the  first  few  weeks  or  months  at  best  that  the 
child  exhibits  these  evidences  of  "spiritual  communica- 
tion"— soon,  very  soon  the  passions  of  humanity,  which  at 
first  lie  slumbering  in  the  depths  of  the  heart,  awaken — 
and  the  angels  flee  in  haste. 

Florence  was  completely  aroused  from  out  her  gloomy 
trance  by  the  birth  of  her  child.  Sometimes  upon  her 
cleared  and  brightened  skies  the  dark  past  would  thrust 
itself,  but  it  was  fleeting  as  the  electric  current — gleaming 
fearfully  for  a  moment — then  gone.  Little  Harry  (for  so 
she  herself  named  him,  because  of  his  resemblance  to  his 
father)  grew  apace,  and  with  every  passing  hour  new  links 
were  added  to  those  which  bound  him  to  her  heart;  and 
with  them  were  others  uniting  her  husband  more  and  more 
closely  in  the  same  fond  embrace.  She  could  not  look  on 
this,  his  softened  image  without  having  him  constantly 


192  FLORENCE;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

brought  to  her  thoughts.  Love  for  the  child  most  naturally 
begets  love  for  the  father,  be  he  worthy  or  unworthy ;  and 
the  two,  especially  in  the  present  instance,  became  in  a  few 
months  a  unit  in  the  affections  of  the  wife  and  mother. 
Again  she  was  reveling  in  a  bright  dream  of  happiness — 
sweet  as  that  which  once  had  filled  her  soul  with  extasy, 
and  like  that,  it  was  doomed  to  as  speedy  an  annihilation ! 

Harry's  apathetic  indifference  to  their  child  was  a  source 
of  painful  amazement  to  Florence,  to  whom  he  had  proved 
a  very  pool  of  Bethesda,  healing  every  sickness  of  her  soul. 
When  the  child  was  some  six  months  old,  Harry  having 
obeyed  her  summons  to  her  boudoir  somewhat  tardily,  and 
listened  unmoved  to  her  glowing  eloquence,  aroused  by 
that  very  inspiring  theme  to  all  mothers  —  the  peculiar 
charms  and  intelligence  of  her  child — she  suddenly  paused 
in  surprise  at  his  frigid  silence  and  exclaimed : 

"How  changed  you  are,  Harry;  and  how  strange  that 
you  should  be  so  indifferent  to  our  child.  Did  you  not  say 
that  he  would  prove  the  sweet  restorer  of  happiness  to  our 
gloomy  home  ?  Alas !  I  was  the  better  prophet  of  the  two. 
It  is  quite  apparent  his  birth  has  not  brought  an  accession 
of  happiness  to  you." 

**And  has  he  restored  your  happiness  ?"  said  he,  fixing 
a  mournful  yet  searching  glance  upon  her. 

"Yes,  yes  I  am  happy — supremely  so,  in  my  little  trea- 
sure. He  is  a  very  sunbeam  in  my  path,  and  has  awakened 
a  thousand  delightful  emotions  of  which  I  knew  nothing 
before.  Life  was  never  half  so  full  of  hope  and  joy  as  at 
the  present  time." 

He  made  no  reply,  but  that  melancholy,  earnest,  and 
doubting  glance  still  remained  fixed  upon  her. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  193 

A  cold  fear  gathered  at  Florence's  heart,  as  atti acted  by 
his  peculiar  gaze  she  observed  for  the  first  time  the  ravages 
mental  and  physical  suffering  had  wrought  in  him. 

On  the  night  of  Henry's  desperation,  his  generous,  lov- 
ing spirit  bleeding  in  untold  agony  £pr  the  wretchedness  he 
supposed  himself  to  have  caused — when  he  sank  to  the 
earth,  felled  by  an  invisible  blow,  he  remained  insensible 
until  the  heavy  dews  of  that  sultry  clime,  bathing  his  faint- 
ing form,  at  length  restored  his  vanished  senses.  A  violent 
pain  in  the  head,  accompanied  with  chilliness  and  numbness 
of  the  whole  system  urged  him  to  seek  a  shelter  within  the 
home  —  than  which  the  narrow  one  of  the  churchyard 
would  have  been  far  more  preferable. 

He  was  descended  from  a  family  all  of  whom,  for  want 
of  strength  of  constitution  to  wrestle  with  disease,  had  died 
early.  He  had  inherited  a  corresponding  delicacy  of  con- 
stitution, and  the  violent  cold  resulting  from  his  exposure 
to  the  malarious  influence  of  the  night,  together  with  the 
tortures  of  his  mind,  tended  to  hasten  the  development  of 
the  disease  lurking  in  his  system,  and  which  must  eventu- 
ally have  wrought  its  destruction.  His  step  lost  its  firm- 
ness and  vigor,  his  face  its  fullness,  his  eye  became 
strangely  bright  and  lustrous,  and  a  crimson  spot  burned 
deeply  on  either  cheek.  These,  with  their  usual  accompa- 
niment, a  distressing  cough,  told  of  the  "worm  i'  the  bud" 
wasting  its  beauty  and  life. 

Once  aroused  to  a  knowledge  of  his  illness  and  suffer- 
ing, with  a  wild  and  passionate  burst  of  grief,  Florence 
upbraided  herself  for  the  selfish  indulgence  to  sorrow  for- 
merly, and  the  entire  absorption  in  her  child  latterly,  which 
had  caused  her  cruel  insensibility  to  his  ills.  Her  heart 
17 


194  FLORENCE;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

smote  her  the  more  keenly  that  he  had.  borne  all  her 
neglect  and  indifference  uncomplainingly. 

They  wept  together,  the  young  husband  and  wife ;  but 
though  it  was  soothing  to  have  her  arms  about  him,  to  feel 
her  tears  upon  his  cheek — tears  for  him! — flowing  in  sym- 
pathy for  his  afflictions,  they  might  not  wash  out  the  deep, 
dark  stains  of  that  deep-seated  sorrow. 

Hastily  summoning  a  servant  she  dispatched  him  immedi- 
ately for  their  family  physician;  and  when  after  a  few  weeks 
had  elapsed  without  an  apparent  improvement  in  Henry's 
health,  others  of  greater  distinction  were  obtained  from  a 
distance.  Unweariedly  she  bent  over  him  through  the 
long,  gloomy  watches  of  the  night,  and  the  more  cheerful 
hours  of  day;  bestowing  all  the  little  nameless  attentions 
which  affection  prompts  to  relieve  the  ailments  of  the 
beloved  —  seeking  when,  alas!  too  late,  to  bring  back 
strength  and  vigor  to  his  declining  frame,  and  buoyancy 
and  hope  to  his  torpid  spirit  But  now 

"  The  King  of  Kings 
Alone  might  stay  life's  parting  wings." 

He  cared  not  to  wrestle  with  the  "fell  Destroyer,"  but 
happily  succumbed  to  his  power. 

Since  the  birth  of  little  Harry,  as  Florence  had  said,  life 
had  become  so  hopeful,  so  happy,  there  was  no  "abiding 
place"  for  gloomy  thoughts  within  her  mind  for  any  length 
of  time.  It  was  painful  to  witness  her  husband's  suffer- 
ings, but  even  though  the  ligaments  of  life  seemed  almost 
ready  to  give  way  with  every  paroxysm  of  coughing,  she 
beguiled  herself  with  the  delusion,  every  succeeding  week, 
that  he  would  soon  be  restored  to  health,  and  then  in  the 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  195 

rearing  of  their  child  what  a  world  of  happiness  was  theirs 
in  prospective. 

Slowly,  but  fatally,  the  poisoned  fang  was  thrust  deeper 
and  deeper  into  his  vital  powers  —  dimmer  and  dimmer 
gleamed  the  spark  of  life  in  its  clayey  tenement ! 

He  had  been  sleeping  and  was  awakened  by  the  silvery 
laugh  of  his  child.  Florence  was  bending  over  him  when 
he  unclosed  his  eyes. 

"I  hope  you  feel  refreshed  by  your  slumbers,  dear 
Harry,  and  are  sufficiently  strong  to  come  out  upon  the 
balcony  and  enjoy  the  beautiful  sunset.  There  is  'healing 
on  the  wings'  of  the  sweet  balmy  air  of  the  evening,  dear- 
est; and  little  Harry's  'winsome  ways'  and  happy  sports 
will  revive  your  languid  spirits;"  said  she,  looking  in  fond 
tenderness  from  one  to  the  other.  "Say,  Harry,  is  he  not 
beautiful?"  continued  she,  holding  the  child  up  to  his  gaze 
with  all  the  pride  of  a  young  mother — "  Oh,  is  he  not 
beautiful  ?" 

The  eyes  of  the  invalid  rested  for  a  moment  upon  the 
beauteous  boy,  then  turned  with  a  restless  glance  to  the 
blooming  and  exultant  countenance  of  the  mother.  He 
gazed  steadfastly  as  if  reading,  yet  doubting  the  evidence 
he  there  saw  of  the  "calm,  sober  certainty  of  waking 
bliss."  He  turned  away,  mentally  exclaiming,  "  'Tis 
feigned — 'tis  feigned — she  is  not — cannot — never  will  be 
happy  more." 

"Will  you  not  come,  deare&t?  Let  me  assist  you  to 
rise ;"  said  Florence,  not  having  yet  received  a  reply. 

"  No,  Florence,  no — I  have  naught  to  do  with  nature's 
scenes  of  beauty,  now.  Once  they  afforded  me  pleasur 


196  FLORENCE;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

but  that  is  past.  I  do  not  desire  again  to  behold  them" — 
he  paused ;  then  as  if  replying  to  her  former  interrogations 
concerning  the  beauty  of  their  child,  he  continned:  "Yes, 
he  is  beautiful,  and — happy  too.  Oh,  may  his  destiny 
prove  more  bright  than  his  ill-fated  father's !  May  God 
avert  from  him  the  misery  of  destroying  the  happiness  of 
the  object  of  his  fondest  and  tenderest  regards."  He 
closed  his  eyes,  and  large  drops  gathered  fast  in  their  cav- 
ernous recesses. 

As  one  suddenly  stricken  with  paralysis,  Florence's  limbs 
gave  way  beneath  her,  and  she  sank  by  his  couch  calling 
on  him  wildly  for  an  explanation. 

"Explain  yourself,  Harry — tell  me,  I  beseech  you,  the 
meaning  of  those  strange  and  cruel  words." 

His  melancholy  glance  was  again  uplifted  to  hers,  and 
he  replied : 

"  I  am  dying,  dearest — but  a  few  more  waning  hours 
and  '  my  last  of  earth'  will  have  come.  Concealments  now 
are  vain.  I  have  long  known  of  your  hopeless  attachment 
to  another,  and  of  your  wretchedness  in  being  wedded  to 
one  while  another  possessed  your  love.  Those  early  vows, 
how  much  of  misery  have  they  wrought  us.  We  erred 
grievously  in  binding  ourselves  to  each  other  at  too 
early  an  age  for  one  at  least  to  judge  truly  of  her  senti- 
ments; and  grievously — most  'grievously  have  we  an- 
swered it.'  Bitter,  bitter  has  been  the  penalty  to  both. 
But  why,  dearest,  did  you  so  deceive  me  ?  how  willingly 
would  I  have  released  you  from  an  engagement  whose  ful- 
fillment was  fraught  with  destruction  to  your  best  and 
brightest  hopes,  and  in  securing  your  happiness,  even  at  so 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  197 

fearful  a  cost,  felt  but  too  blest.  Alas !  that  that  proud  and 
lofty  nature  should  have  led  you  to  throw  yourself  upon 
the  pile  of  sacrifice." 

Florence  was  shocked — completely  stunned  by  these 
unexpected  disclosures.  The  inmost  recesses  of  her  heart 
had  then  been  bared  to  him !  and  that  fatal  secret  which 
she  thought  secured  in  her  bosom  by  "  triple  bars  of  steel," 
and  known  to  but  one  other  beside  herself,  had  also  become 
known  to  him — him  from  whom  of  all  others  she  most 
desired  to  conceal  it,  because  of  the  wretchedness  she  knew 
it  must  occasion.  The  revelation  filled  her  with  consterna- 
tion, anguish,  mortification,  and  remorse.  The  knowledge 
of  which  he  had  unfortunately  become  possessed  had,  alas ! 
pierced  deeply  —  perhaps  fatally,  and  he  was  the  victim, 
not  she,  of  her  wretched  passion !  How  humiliating  that 
his  encomiums  were  undeserved — that  his  love  had  clothed 
her  character  with  an  excellence  it  was  so  far  from  possess- 
ing— had  exalted  her — deified  her.  That  he  should  have 

O 

thought  a  principle  of  honor,  and  not  stern  necessity  had 
caused  her  to  give  up  forever  her  soul's  first  idol. 

'Harry!  Harry!"  she  exclaimed  wildly — "your  self- 
reproaches  and  expressions  of  love  have  maddened  me.  It 
is  not  true  that  thou  hast  been  a  destroyer  of  happiness — 
but  I—I  am  the  destroyer,  and  thou  art  the  victim !  Oh, 
why  did  I  leave  you,  who  loved  me  so  kindly,  to  return  a 
miserable,  perjured  being  to  blast  thine  all  of  earthly  joy! 
He  who  caused  my  heart  to  wander  from  thine  loved  me 
not — he  loved  me  not — and  blindly,  not  willfully  did  I  fal- 
sify my  vow  to  thee.  All  unconsciously  I  became  entangled 
in  that  fatal  passion,  and  on  my  awakening  to  a  full  sense 
of  my  madness  and  folly,  even  thou,  whom  I  had  so  basely 


198  FLORENCE;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

injured,  must  have  pitied  me.  Love  scorned  —  pride 
crushed — hopes  blighted — and  life  but  a  bitter  mockery — 
Oh,  Harry,  Harry,  thou  wert  fully  avenged !  Pardon  me ! 
Oh !  say  that  you  pardon  me  for  my  wicked  concealments — 
and  believe  me,  I  sought  only  your  happiness  and  my 
father's  by  it.  I  felt  that  it  was  enough  that  I  was  miser- 
able, not  that  thou,  and  he  too,  should  become  so,  who  were 
so  undeserving  such  a  fate.  Our  marriage,  I  knew,  was 
the  one  hope  of  his  life ;  and  though  I  felt  that  your  love 
could  never  meet  with  its  just  return,  I  hoped  our  union 
might  contribute  somewhat  to  your  happiness.  Oh!  tell 
me  that  you  do  not  wholly  despise  me  for  my  weakness — 
that  you  do  not  loathe  me  for  my  baseness  to  you ;  that 
you  will  not  cast  me  off  forever  from  your  heart,  Harry,  to 
be  lost — lost  in  the  '  outer  darkness.'  " 

She  paused — overcome  by  the  violence  of  her  feelings 
and  the  wild  energy  of  her  manner,  and  awaited  with  a 
frenzied  anxiety  his  reply. 

When  Florence  sank  down  in  bewildering  amazement 
and  grief  at  Henry's  unexpected  revealments,  her  child 
slid  from  her  nerveless  arm,  and  lay  rolling  in  wild  glee 
amid  the  rich  roses  and  jonquils  of  the  carpet ;  his  sweet 
ringing  tones  filled  the  room  with  their  music,  making 
strange  discord  with  the  deep  sobs  of  his  agonized  mother, 
or  the  sighs  that  rent  the  bosom  of  his  suffering  father. 

Alas!  sweet  boy;  though  now  thou  art  sporting  joy- 
ously, unconscious  of  the  suffering  so  near  thee,  with  every 
recurring  breath  thou  inhalest  the  tainted  atmosphere  of  a 
world  of  sin  and  sorrow.  The  curse  of  Adam  resteth  on  thee ! 

It  was  long  ere  Henry  obtained  sufficient  mastery  over 
his  feelings  to  articulate  distinctly ;  but  he  reached  his  arms 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  199 

feebly  out  and  clasped  them  around  his  grief-smitten 
Florence.  When  he  regained  command  of  his  voice  he 
besought  her  to  be  calm — "  You  have  suffered  deeply. 
Oh  !  that  I  had  power  to  shield  you  from  every  future  sor- 
row; but  my  candle  of  life  burns  dim  in  its  socket,  and 
mine  is  not  the  blessed  privilege  to  lighten  the  gloom  of 
thy  patliAvay.  I  thank  Thee,  0  !  I  thank  Thee,  heavenly 
Father,  that  I  die  relieved  of  a  weight  of  anguish  !" 

"  Do  not  talk  thus,  Harry;  you  will  not  leave  me — say, 
say  that  you  will  not  die,"  she  added  incoherently,  her 
large,  dark  eyes,  strained  almost  to  bursting,  transfixed 
upon  his  fading  form.  "  Must  I  see  the  earth  close  over 
all  who  ever  loved  me.  My  father — my  husband — must  I 
lose  all — all,  all,"  she  murmured  in  heart-rending  tones. 

"Our  child,  dearest;  he  will  comfort  you,  and  console 
you  when  I  am  gone,  and  smooth  life's  thorny  path.  He 
will  demand  your  love  and  guardianship  the  more,  deprived 
of  a  father  and  grandfather ;  and  for  his  sake  you  will 
become  nerved  and  strengthened  to  bear  all  future  trials." 

Thus  he  sought  to  comfort  her,  unmindful  of  self — that 
he  had  been  stricken  down  in  the  full  prime  and  vigor  of 
his  manhood. 

The  explanation,  though  painful  and  humiliating,  was  the 
blessed  means  of  dispelling  their  long  existing  estrange- 
ment and  cold  reserve,  and  Henry's  last  few  days  of  earth 
were  made  sweet  and  happy  by  fond  communion  with  her 
whom  he  had  loved  through  life  with  so  "  deathless  a  devo- 
tion." Even  Florence's  grief  lost  somewhat  of  its  sting  in 
contemplating  the  face  of  the  dying.  It  was  so  radiant 
and  peaceful,  the  ills  of  earth  had  lost  their  power  to 
wound. 


200  FLORENCE ;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

The  lofty  columns  of  Bellefontaine  house  were  draped 
in  funereal  weeds,  and  a  hushed  and  solemn  awe  rested 
upon  its  aristocratic  premises.  The  last  sad  scene  was 
over  ;  the  burial  rite  had  been  read — the  funeral  song  been 
sung — and  "a  dirge  for  him,  the  doubly  dead,  in  that  he 
died  so  young,"  went  up  from  the  hearts  of  those  who  had 
known  him,  and  loved  him  for  his  noble  generosity,  and 
warm  and  chivalrous  heart. 

The  servants,  filled  with  the  vague  feelings  of  terror  and 
dread,  which  death  creates  in  the  bosoms  of  the  ignorant 
and  superstitious,  crept  noiselessly  and  timidly  about,  or 
assembled  in  groups  to  talk  over  the  signs  which  for 
months  had  ominously  portended  a  death  in  the  family. 

Alone  in  the  chamber,  whose  walls  had  caught  his  last 
faint  sigh,  sat  Florence — the  lonely,  desolate,  heart-broken 
Florence ;  clutching  her  child  nervously  to  her  breast,  as 
though  fearful  lest  it  too,  should  be  torn  from  her  by  the 
unpitying  hand  of  death. 

"Oh,  the  Grave  !  the  Grave  !"  says  the  elegant  Irving, 
"It  buries  every  error,  covers  every  defect,  extinguishes 
every  resentment."  Would  indeed  that,  "  from  its  peace- 
ful bosom,  none  but  fond  regrets  and  tender  recollections" 

O 

might  spring;  but  too  often  "the  unkind  look,  the  ungra- 
cious word,  the  ungentle  action,"  the  cold  indifference  to 
"past  endearments"  rises  up  in  dark  array  before  the  "lov- 
ing kindnesses"  of  the  dear  departed,  and  pangs  keen  and 
intense  agonize  the  soul,  that  the  grave  deprives  it  the 
power  of  reparation. 

Florence  sat  in  mute  agony — her  mind  a  prey  to  the 
keenest  pangs  of  remorse.  Memory  was  rife  with  the  past, 
bringing  up  every  scene  in  which  he  had  acted  a  part, 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  201 

and  painting  all  his  acts  with  the  golden  colors  of  love's  pen 
cil.  Agonizingly  she  mourned  his  blighted  hopes — his  early 
death.  Her  grief  at  length  found  vent  in  sighs  and  words. 
"  And  would  not  thy  virtues,  dearest,  win  for  thee  a 
better,  brighter  fate  ?  Alas  !  alas  !  that  the  midnight  sha- 
dow of  my  destiny  should  have  fallen  across  thy  path. 
Oh,  Harry,  Harry,  art  thou  indeed,  gone !  lost — lost  to  me 
forever  ?  Is  all  future  retribution  denied  me  for  the  ills 
I  have  wrought  thee  ?  Was  thy  precious  love  unvalued — 
slighted  —  rejected  ?  and  now  there  's  none  to  care  for 
me — to  bless  me  with  their  love.  My  child  !  my  child, 
would  that  thou  and  thy  unhappy  mother  were  lying 
beneath  the  sod  that  covers  thy  father's  form.  Why  do  I 
live  !  life  is  but  a  burden  and  a  curse.  I  cannot  leave  the 
wretched  present  to  "  bathe  my  wearied  soul"  in  the  me- 
mory of  former  joys,  for  across  the  portals  of  the  past  is 
suspended  the  naming  sword  of  remorse.  I  cannot  look  to 
the  future  for  relief  of  my  woes,  for  it  stretches  away  in  the 
dim  distance  with  a  prospect  so  drear  and  cheerless,  I  am 
paralyzed  by  it.  Oh,  the  grave !  the  grave  !  in  it  alone 
may  the  "  weary  find  rest — in  it  alone  are  all  human  ills 
deprived  their  sting." 

Thus  gloomily  passed  the  first  subsequent  months  after 
her  husband's  death — unlike  the  cynic  sorrows  of  the  past, 
which  had  refused  to  be  shared  with  another — disdaining 
all  efforts  of  consolation,  the  lacerated  heart  of  Florence 
now  yearningly  pined  for  some  one  to  "  speak  comfortingly" 
to  her — to  say  that  her  self-reproaches  and  censures  were 
not  all  merited.  But  there  were  no  kind  hands  near  to  offer 
the  balm-cup.  She  had  received  a  cold  and  formal  letter 
of  condolence  from  a  very  distant  and  only  surviving  rela- 


202  FLORENCE;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

live  of  Harry's  mother,  who  resided  in  a  neighboring  fetate; 
of  her  own  family,  not  a  drop  of  her  blood  coursed  through 
the  veins  of  a  human  being  save  her  little  Harry's.  There 
were,  then,  no  tender,  sympathizing  relatives  with  her  in 
that  season  of  trial ;  and  having  rejected  all  advances  of 
friendship  from  the  neighboring  population  since  her  mar- 
riage, they  forbore  to  intrude  upon  her  now,  but  left  her  to 
wrestle  with  her  sorrows  as  best  she  might.  There  had 
been  a  time,  and  the  thought  added  to  the  poignancy  of 
her  grief,  when  there  was  one  who  sought  to  comfort  her, 
and  she  "  would  not,"  and  "  now  was  her  desolation  come 
upon  her." 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  203 


CHAPTER  XV. 

There  comes  forever  something  between  us  and  what  we  deem  our  happiness. 

BYRO.V. 

Death  found  strange  beauty  on  that  cherub  brow, 
And  dashed  it  out.    There  was  a  tint  of  rose 
On  cheek  and  lip — 'je  touched  the  veins  with  ice, 
And  the  rose  faded .    With  ruthless  haste  he  bound 
The  silken  fringes  of  the  curtaining  lids 
Forever.    The  spoiler  set  his  seal  of  silence — 
But  there  beamed  a  smile 
So  fixed  und  holy  from  that  marble  brow, 
Death  gazed,  and  left  it  there ;  he  dared  not  steal 
The  signet-ring  of  Heaven.  SWOUKKEY. 

IF  time  robs  us  of  our  joys,  it  also  removes  from  us  our 
sorrows,  and  heals  the  bitterness  of  spirit  by  which  at  first 
we  were  prostrated.  Months  had  come  and  gone  since  the 
death  of  Florence's  husband,  and  the  gloom  of  the  past  was 
waning  away — gradually  receding  in  the  dim  distance.  In 
the  discharge  of  her  maternal  duties,  in  receiving  full  interest 
for  all  her  fond  attentions  to  little  Harry  in  his  loving 
caresses,  and  in  noting  every  new  development  of  his  in- 
fantile powers,  time  passed  on,  bringing  to  her  soul  a  calm 
and  chastened  joy.  With  the  pride  of  a  mother  of  strong 
and  highly  cultivated  intellect,  she  saw  in  his  unusual  pre- 
cociousness,  the  germs  of  an  intellect  destined  for  immor- 
tality— and  not  that  it  but  betokened  the  shortness  of  time 
allotted,  in  which  to  mature. 

He  had  reached  his  third  summer  in  perfect  health — 
was  beautiful,  lovable  and  joyous,  as  the  fondest  mother's 


204  FLORENCE;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

heart  could  desire.  He  was  the  light  of  the  household — 
his  glad  spirits  causing  the  portals  which  had  long  been 
hushed  in  sadness,  to  re-echo  with  mirth  and  joy.  In  him 
were  located  the  hopes  and  kind  wishes  of  many.  The 
sable  population  of  his  home,  who,  by  the  laws  of  the  land, 
were  to  know  no  will  but  his,  saw  in  him  a  future  master, 
beneficent  and  kind,  as  had  been  his  father  and  grand- 
father ;  and  to  his  mother  he  was  the  son — emphatically, 
the  sun  of  her  life — he  was  to  "  make  bright"  its  morning, 
and  to  cheer  the  gloom  of  its  decline.  But  like  many 
another  keel  freighted  with  a  thousand  precious  hopes,  he 
was  destined  to  go  down. 

At  this  period,  Florence's  vigilant  eye  of  love,  detected 
that  a  worm  was  preying  in  the  very  heart  of  her  rosebud. 
His  healthful  complexion  gave  way  to  the  pale  and  waxen 
hue  of  disease  ;  its  roses  were  gathered  into  one  bright 
spot  upon  his  wasting  cheek,  and  his  eyes,  so  like  his 
father's,  shone  with  the  same  brilliant  luster  which  lit  his 
expiring  glances.  No  longer  his  glad  shouts  re-echoed 
through  the  lofty  mansion,  greeting  pleasantly  the  ears  of 
those  so  ardently  devoted  to  him — no  longer  did  aught 
afford  him  pleasure.  Alas !  he  lay  a  drooping,  wilting 
flower,  on  the  bosom  which  thrilled  with,  extasy  or  throb- 
bed with  anguish  in  accordance  with  his  various  changes. 

The  loss  of  her  father  and  husband  had  caxised  illness 
and  death  to  become  closely  associated  in  Florence's  mind : 
and  now,  her  beautiful  boy — the  light  of  her  desolate 
home — was  become  the  victim  of  disease,  and  she  could 
not  force  from  her  the  thought — though  it  curdled  her 
very  life-blood — of  the  possibility  of  his  death.  In  these 
sad  hours  she  remembered  the  gentle  trust  of  her  friend 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  205 

Carrie  Neville,  in  One,  •whom,  she  had  said,  was  able  and 
•willing  to  help  those  in  need,  and  she  would  try  to  lift  up 
her  heart  to  Him  in  earnest  supplication  that  "  this  cup 
might  pass  from  her"  untasted.  Then  she  would  check  the 
"  strivings  of  the  good  spirit" — she  would  "seek  to  gird  up 
her  fainting  loins"  with  the  idea  that  God  was  too  merciful 
to  afflict  her  so  grievously.  "He,"  she  would  say,  "who 
cannot  falsify  his  word,  has  said  that  he  would  not  afflict 
us  beyond  our  ability  to  bear — and  this  I  could  not  bear. 
My  other  afflictions,  though  severe,  could  be  endured — 
but  this,  never — never !  He  will  not — he  will  not  rifle  me  of 
my  last  treasure — leave  me  in  this  dark  world  without  an 
object  to  live  for.  He  will  not,  fiend-like,  give  me  life,  yet 
rob  me  of  all  that  makes  life  desirable.  Oh,  no,  no !  it 
cannot — cannot  be.  When  the  spring  opens  I  will  take 
him  away  to  the  Virginia  mountains,  and  the  pure,  bracing 
atmosphere,  and  the  medicinal  properties  of  the  springs, 
will  restore  my  darling's  health.  Yes,  yes,  we  will  return 
in  the  fall,  Fanny,  with  little  master  Harry  blooming  and 
healthful  as  ever.  Say,  Fanny,  will  it  not  be  so  ?" 

The  girl  assented  ;  and  in  her  owii  rude  and  unpolished 
manner,  sought  to  buoy  up  her  mistress'  drooping  spirits. 

The  physician  interposed  no  obstacles  to  her  plans. 
Aware  of  the  inability  of  human  means  to  stay  the  grasp 
of  the  Destroyer,  he  hoped  that  it  might  afford  a  slight 
palliative  to  her  grief,  that  every  effort  had  been  made  to 
preserve  the  life  of  her  child. 

It  was  early  spring,  and  even  in  that  land  of  perpetual 
verdure,  Nature's  smile  became  more  joyous  and  eloquent 
at  its  approach — the  air  grew  more  deliciously  sweet  with 
the  breath  of  flowers,  and  the  orchestra  of  the  grove 


206  FLORENCE  ;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

bewildered  the  senses  "with  its  bursts  of  melody — ah,  those 
notes  ! 

Of  linked  sweetness  long  drawn  out. 

Orpheus,  thy  strains  were  not  more  ravishing,  even  though 
the  lost  ones  of  Hades  were  made  to  forget  their  tortures  ! 
and  the  famous  ship  to  move  prosperously  on  its  voyage  ! 
and  the  very  rocks  and  trees  and  beasts,  to  bow  before 
thee  ! 

In  other  and  happier  days,  Florence  had  bowed  in 
deepest  adoration  at  Spring's  shrine  of  beauty,  but  never 
did  she  hail  its  gentle  coming  with  such  deep  and  thankful 
joy  as  the  present.  She  departed  immediately  for  the 
North  with  her  precious  burden,  to  make  the  last  great 
struggle  with  the  fell  Destroyer  for  happiness. 

For  the  first  few  weeks  after  their  arrival  at  the  Springs, 
little  Harry's  failing  powers  seemed  to  recuperate  some- 
what of  strength,  and  the  novelty  of  strange  faces,  and 
new  scenes,  to  excite  him  with  pleasure ;  but  this  was 
followed  by  a  more  rapid  decline. 

"Mamma,"  said  he  one  evening,  as  he  reclined  upon  her 
bosom,  his  feverish  arms  entwining  her  neck,  and  his  bril- 
liant glance  fastened  on  hers — "  Who  will  love  you,  Mam- 
ma, when  Harry  is  gone  ?" 

A  cold  shudder  passed  through  Florence's  frame,  and 
her  lips  became  ashen  as  she  attempted  smilingly  to  reply, 
"  Why  is  my  little  son  going  to  run  aw.ay,  and  leave  poor 
Mamma  ?" 

"  Oh  no,  Mamma — but  when  Harry  is  gone  away  up  to 
the  bright  Heaven,  to  live  with  the  good  God,  and  his 
sweet  angels" — his  face  became  resplendent  with  joy  as  he 
spoke  ;  but  the  expression  changed  to  one  of  troubled 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  207 

anxiety  as  he  again  asked  the  question,  "  Who  will  love 
you  then,  Mamma  ?" 

"Ko  one — no  one,  Harry,"  burst  from  her  in  heart- 
rending tones.  "  But,  Harry,  you  must  not  grieve 
Mamma  by  talking  so  foolishly.  Who  has  put  these 
strange  thoughts  in  your  head  ?" 

"Fanny  said  my  Papa  grew  sick  and  died,  and  went  to 
such  a  beautiful  place  in  the  skies,  to  live  with  God  and 
the  angels  ;  and  Harry  is  going  there  too,  Mamma." 

"  Hush  talking  so  this  instant,  Harry,  if  you  would  not 
kill  me,"  said  she,  drawing  him  more  closely  to  her  bosom, 
which  bled  at  every  pore  with  anguish,  and  pressed  her 
quivering  lips  to  his. 

The  child  lay  silently  for  some  time  within  her  arms — 
an  expression  of  sorrow  on  his  youthful  features,  most 
touching  to  behold.  His  thoughts  were  still  burdened  with 
the  painful  question:  "Who  will  love  Mamma  then?" 
Suddenly  a  burst  of  sunshine  beamed  from  his  beautiful 
face — a  blessed  thought  had  occurred  to  him.  "  God  will 
love  you,  Mamma.  Fanny  said  God  loved  every  one,  and 
He  will  love  you  when  Harry  is  gone." 

"  Never — never.  He  could  not  love  me  if  he  took  my 
darling  from  me.  I  do  not  want  his  love,  or  any  one's,  but 
yours  my  darling,  darling  Harry." 

Again  sorrow  touched  the  gushing  sunshine  of  his  smile, 
and  it  vanished — was  gone.  He  became  restless — and  a 
sound,  half  sigh,  half  moan  escaped  his  faded  lips,  as  from 
time  to  time  they  were  pressed  to  hers. 

When  the  glad  sunshine  of  the  morning  again  poured 
through  the  windows  of  the  sick  chamber,  it  was  apparent 
that  little  Harry's  brief  career  was  almost  ended.  A  few 


208  FLORENCE;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

hours  later  in  the  day,  and  his  pure  spirit  -winged  its  flight 
to  the  bosom  of  the  God  whence  it  came.  Alas  !  that  it 
should  have  gone  burdened  with  a  sigh  ! 

When  the  last  moan  of  pain  escaped  his  little  bosom, 
Florence  sank  to  the  floor  in  a  long  and  deathly  swoon, 
with  his  lifeless  form  pressed  closely  to  her  heart. 

Ye  only  who  have  had  the  strong  cords  of  a  Mother's 
love  suddenly  sundered,  who  have  knelt  beside  the  couch 
in  agonized  consciousness,  that  all  human  efforts  to  rescue 
the  beloved  are  of  no  avail — who  have  witnessed  the 
glazing  of  the  eye,  the  heart-beats  growing  feebler  and 
feebler,  the  moan  fainter  and  fainter,  until  the  loved  being 
lies  chill  and  motionless  in  the  embrace  of  death — ye  only 
may  enter  into  Florence's  feelings  at  this  moment.  Even 
then,  thine  may  not  be  a  parallel  case.  There  may  be 
other  jewels  of  the  heart,  to  supply  the  place  of  the  lost 
one;  and  kind  and  loving  friends,  with  sympathies  to  soothe 
and  comfort,  and  the  physician  in  whose  skill  thou  mayest 
have  unbounded  confidence.  All  these  were  denied  to 
Florence.  Alone,  among  strangers,  with  no  beloved  ones 
to  lean  her  crushed  and  bleeding  heart  upon,  in  that  hour 
of  greatest  trial — truly,  indeed,  might  she  have  exclaimed, 
"  Was  there  ever  sorrow  like  unto  my  sorrow  ?" 

They  laid  him  down  to  rest,  sweet  little  Harry  Soule, 
far  away  from  the  resting-place  of  his  Fathers  :  but  it  was 
a  sweet,  secluded  spot,  overshadowed  with  lofty  pines — 
emblems  of  the  "unfading  glories"  of  the  soul;  and  the 
winds  amid  their  branches,  chanted  a  low  and  solemn  re- 
quiem over  his  little  grave. 

When  after  some  hours,  Florence  recovered  from  the 
effects  of  her  swoon,  and  the  full  weight  of  her  bereave- 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  209 

i 

merit  came  upon  her,  with  impious  voice  she  dared  question 
the  justice  of  the  stroke  which  had  removed  her  darling 
from  her. 

"  What  have  I  done  to  merit  such  oft-repeated  ills  ?  Was 
I  created  but  to  be  the  mark  of  a  relentless  destiny  ?  From 
childhood  a  curse  has  rested  on  me !  thwarted,  crossed  in 
every  fond  wish  that  I  indulged ;  but  all,  all  were  as  naught 
compared  to  this.  Why  were  all  these  strong  affections 
implanted  within  my  bosom,  if  no  objects  round  which  they 
may  entwine  are  granted  me  ?  Oh,  my  child !  my  child ! 
my  darling  child  !  why  wert  thou  given  me  but  to  be 
snatched  away  at  the  moment  thou  hadst  become  most 
dear?" 

She  arose  with  a  feeling  of  desperation  at  heart,  and  tot- 
tered to  the  couch  on  which,  after  having  enrobed  him  for 
the  burial,  strangers  had  laid  him.  She  clutched  the  snowy 
covering  from  about  him,  and  the  angel  smile  of  those 
marble  features  had  more  of  power  to  comfort  her,  than 
aught  else  on  earth  beside.  It  turned  her  thoughts  from 
out  their  dark  and  murky  channel  to  that  God  who  had 
given  and  taken  her  child — to  that  Heaven,  henceforth  his 
dwelling-place,  whose  smile  even  now  rested  so  sweetly  on 
him.  It  was  over  the  dead  body  of  her  child  that  Florence's 
heart  was  made  to  feel  all  its  sinfulness,  and  unworthiness 
of  past  blessings.  Though  she  had  quaffed  deeply  of  the 
cup  of  affliction,  it  had  until  now  failed  to  have  its  proper 
effect.  Henceforth  there  was  a  golden  chain  binding  her 
heart  to  Heaven,  and  the  pious  teachings  of  her  friends  at 
S vale  began  to  "bring  forth  fruit." 

During  the  early  days  of  her  widowhood,  when  pining 
18 


210  FLORENCE;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

for  human  sympathy,  her  thoughts  had  often  reverted  to 
the  gentle,  pious  Carrie,  and  she  would  say:  "Oh!  that 
thou  wert  with  me,  my  friend,  to  lift  my  sinful,  suffering 
heart  to  Him  who  has  so  sorely  smitten  it ;"  but  the  love 
of  her  child  had  then  proved  a  balm  for  every  wound. 
Now  he  was  taken  from  her,  and  in  the  last  extremity  she 
was  driven  to  Him,  whose  mercies  heretofore  had  all  been 
disregarded ;  and  in  the  sacred  pages  of  his  Holy  book, 
that  blessed  fount  whence  all  earthly  sorrows  may  be 
quenched,  she  found  strength  and  support  under  this  severe 
and  aggravated  trial.  If  at  first  she  had  deemed  God  too 
merciful  to  take  her  last  earthly  treasure  from  her,  now  she 
felt  that  it  was  a  kind  and  loving  hand  that  dealt  the 
blow — that  it  was  in  merey  given  to  lead  her  heart  to 
Heaven  and  Him. 

"My  darling,"  she  murmured,  "thou  canst  not  come 
to  me,  but,  blessed  thought!  I  may  go  to  thee."  During 
the  long  and  violent  illness  that  succeeded,  she  was  strength- 
ened by  the  Christian's  hope,  and  kind  friends  were  found 
among  the  strangers,  who  vied  with  each  other  in  delicate 
attentions  to  the  young  and  sorely  chastened  mourner. 

Several  months  had  passed  since  the  death  of  little 
Harry,  and  Florence  was  so  far  recovered  as  to  be  able 
to  sit  up,  but  not  yet  with  sufficient  strength  to  visit  his 
grave.  From  her  window,  however,  she  could  look  across 
the  intervening  meadow  to  the  hill-side,  where  his  grave 
was  made. 

With  the  severance  of  the  last,  and  tenderest,  and  holiest 
tie  of  life,  all  the  wild  and  stormy  passions  of  her  nature 
were  subdued,  and  a  holy  calm  pervaded  her.  She  bowed 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  211 

in  humble  acquiescence  to  the  will  of  the  Unerring  One, 
hoping  soon  to  be  re-united  to  the  lost  ones  of  her  heart  in 
Heaven. 

One  only  thought  had  power  to  wound  her.  The  season 
was  waning,  and  all  were  preparing  to  leave — but  how — 
Oh  !  how  could  she  return  to  her  desolate  home? 


212  FLORENCE;  A  SEQUEL  TO 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

It  was  a  pale,  a  melancholy  face — 

A  cheek  which  bore  the  trace  of  frequent  tears, 

And  worn  by  grief— though  grief  might  not  efface 

The  seal  that  beauty  set  in  happier  years; 

And  such  a  smile  as  on  the  brow  appears 

Of  one  whose  earthly  thoughts,  long-since  subdued 

Past  this  life's  joys  and  sorrows,  hopes,  and  fears — 

The  worldly  dreams  o'er  which  the  many  brood — 

The  heart-beat  hush'd,  in  mild  and  chasten'd  mood. — 

Heaven,  and  heavenly  thoughts  were  in  her  eye.         IBID. 

And  sad  memory  steals 
Forth  from  the  twilight  of  the  heart,  to  hold 
Its  mournful  vigil  o'er  affection's  dust.  SIGOURNEY. 

NATURE'S  sigh  was  upon  the  air,  telling  sadly  that  the 
year  was  dying.  Like  the  bird  of  snowy  plumage,  the 
fading,  withering  leaves  were  singing  their  own  funereal 
songs.  The  breath  of  autumn,  as  it  stole  gently  through 
the  open  window  by  which  Florence  was  sitting,  fell  sadly 
upon  her  spirit — no  longer  could  her  return  home  be 
delayed.  She  turned  to  the  sacred  pages  and  sought  relief 
for  her  melancholy,  and  received  fresh  strength  and  conso- 
lation from  its  "precious  promises." 

She  was  startled  from  her  absorbing  perusal  by  some  one 
exclaiming  without — "  Florence !  Florence  !" 

How  long  a  time  had  elapsed  since  she  had  heard  that 
once  familiar  name !  she  turned  almost  in  eager  expectation 
of  meeting  some  old,  beloved  friend. 

Beneath  the  shade  of  a  tree,  at  some  distance  on  the 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  213 

lawn,  a  nurse  with  two  children  was  sitting,  and  it  was  she 
who  was  chiding  a  little  maiden  of  some  three  summers  or 
more,  for  her  somewhat  unfeminine  mirthfulness. 

Florence  witnessed  the  sports  of  the  children  with  that 
melancholy  pleasure  a  bereaved  mother  only  may  feel. 
There  is  so  striking  a  resemblance  between  the  actions 
of  all  children,  that  little  Harry's  plays  were  brought 
vividly  to  her  memory. 

At  length  the  nurse  took  them  away ;  and  for  the  first 
time  since  Harry's  death,  a  feeling,  so  strong  and  yearning 
came  over  her  but  for  a  moment  to  clasp  him  to  her 
bosom — but  to  hear  his  loved  voice  once  more  pronounce 
the  sweet  word  "  Mamma."  Her  tears  began  to  flow,  and 
starting  up  she  said :  "  I  will  go  to  his  grave.  True,  I  shall 
not  see  him,  but  there  will  be  happiness  in  the  thought  that 
I  am  near  him — that  but  a  few  feet  of  earth  lie  between 
me  and  his  beloved  form.  Yes,  I  am  strong  now — I  will 
go  to  his  grave." 

With  feeble  steps  she  sought  the  hallowed  spot,  and 
kneeling  lowly  down,  she  bowed  her  head  to  the  dust  that 
covered  his  mortal  remains — yet  wept  not,  for  the  blest 
assurance  at  her  heart  of  soon  being  restored  to  her  lost 
darling  in  Heaven,  where  "  partings  come  not." 

As  she  walked  slowly  homeward  in  deep  meditation  on 
the  mysteries  of  life  and  death,  of  time  and  eternity,  but 
more  especially  of  that  wondrous  Being,  the  Creator  and 
Disposer  of  all  things,  she  met  the  girl  with  the  children, 
whose  gambols  she  had  witnessed  during  the  early  part  of 
the  evening. 

Involuntarily  she  paused  before  her  to  look  at  the  child 
in  her  arms.  He  was  beautiful  as  her  own  heart's  idol  ere 


214  FLORENCE;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

disease  had  wasted  his  strength  and  bloom.  There  was 
something  in  the  sweet,  gentle  expression  of_his  eyes  of 
azure  light  that  touched  her  heart  pleasantly  as  an  old 
remembered  strain.  She  gazed  earnestly,  and  the  faces  of 
two  almost  forgotten  in  the  pressure  of  recent  sorrows  were 
recalled  by  the  resemblance  of  this  infant  boy. 

The  child,  true  to  the  instincts  of  baby  nature,  put  forth 
his  arms  to  go  to  one  who  gazed  with  so  sweet  and 
sad  a  smile  upon  him.  She  lifted  him  from  the  arms 
of  the  nurse,  and  nestling  close  upon  her  bosom,  he  twined 
his  dimpled  arms  about  her,  and  gazed  upward  with  a  smile 
of  sunshine. 

It  was  a  moment  of  agony  to  Florence,  though  not 
unmingled  with  pleasure.  The  past  rushed  back  upon 
her — it  seemed  as  though  Harry  were  restored  to  her.  She 
pushed  back  the  clustering  curls  of  "  summer  gold"  from 
off  his  brow.  Its  massive  proportions  struck  her.  In  its  con- 
formation she  had  never  seen  but  one  such  before.  She 
held  him  long  and  fondly  to  her  bosom,  suffusing  his  angel 
face  with  tears  and  kisses. 

"How  beautiful  thou  art,  sweet  one — thy  mother's  heart 
doth  joy  in  such  a  treasure — once  I  too  was  blest  as  she, 
for  my  child  was  fair  and  beautiful  as  thou  art.  But  now 
my  little  Harry  lies  sleeping  up  there  in  the  grove,  and  I 

have  been  to  his  grave  to  pray Canst  thou 

tell  me  thy  name,  dearest?" 

"We  call  him  Theo,"  said  the  nurse,  "but  his  right 
name  is  Theodore." 

A  chill  crept  through  the  veins  of  Florence.  The  girl 
added  his  full  name — it  was  one  Florence  had  never  heard 
before. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  215 

With  another  fond  embrace  she  returned  the  child  to  the 
nurse,  and  would  have  passed  on,  but  the  little  maiden  by 
the  nurse's  side,  gaming  confidence  by  her  gentle  manners, 
and  the  interest  she  manifested  in  her  brother,  approached 
her,  and  said, 

"  My  name  is  Florence — is  not  that  a  pretty  name?  My 
mamma  says  there  is  no  name  half  so  beautiful." 

Florence  bent  over  and  kissed  her  glowing  cheeks. 

"  Yes,  it  is  a  sweet  name.  I  love  it,  because  when  I  was 
a  bright-eyed  little  maiden  like  you,  my  father  loved  it,  and 
called  me  by  it." 

The  evening  was  warm  for  the  season,  and  the  windows, 
which  extended  to  the  floor,  were  thrown  open  to  admit  the 
mild,  soft  western  breeze,  which 

"  Just  kissed  the  lake,  just  stirred  the  trees." 

Florence  sat  in  the  gray  twilight,  musing  on  the  past. 

"  The  fragrant  breeze 
Swept  o'er  her,  as  a  tale  of  other  times, 
lifting  the  curtain  from  the  ancient  cells 
Of  early  memory." 

She  had  thought  that  every  earthly  longing  had  been 
crushed  in  the  death  of  her  child  ;  but  the  gentle  twining 
of  the  arms  of  the  stranger  baby  about  her,  and  his  fragrant 
kisses  upon  her  lips,  so  long  denied  that  luxury,  had  awa- 
kened anew  longings  for  something  on  which  to  spend  her 
hoarded  affections.  Then  there  was  that  in  his  smile,  too, 
which  reminded  her  forcibly  of  some  friends  who  were  once 
most  dear. 

One  of  those  friends,  truly,  was  shadowed  in  the  gloomy 
back-ground  of  the  picture,  but  the  other,  the  gentle  Carrie, 
stood  forth  all  bathed  in  sunshine.  She  recalled  the  nume- 


216  FLORENCE;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

rous  proofs  she  had  given  of  her  affection — the  joy  of  their 
communings  —  the  pleasant  walks  they  had  taken  —  the 
songs  they  had  sung  together.  "  But  all,  all  is  past,"  said 
she,  with  a  sigh.  "  Oh  !  that  I  could  once  again  hear  those 
sweet,  familiar  songs." 

"  Fanny,  bring  me  my  guitar.  In  other  days  I  had  a 
great  passion  for  music  ;  let  me  try  if  it  will  remove  the 
melancholy  and  isolation  of  feeling  that  depress  me  this 
evening." 

Her  touch,  at  first,  was  faint  and  faulty,  and  her  voice  tre- 
mulous with  weakness  and  suppressed  feeling;  but  gradu- 
ally, as  she  became  lost  in  the  sweet  remembrances  of  the 
past,  the  cords  gave  forth  their  richest  melody  beneath  the 
magic  of  her  touch,  and  her  voice  rose  soft  and  clear,  and 
swelled  upon  the  evening  air. 

In  a  distant  room  in  the  hotel  a  lady  and  gentleman  were 
sitting  by  a  table,  reading ;  and  a  third  person  stood  by  an 
open  window,  gazing  out  upon  the  "  starry  Heavens."  He 
looked  thin  and  pale,  as  if  one  of  that  unfortunate  class  of 
beings — a  perpetual  half-way  invalid;  not  so  ill  as  to  require 
strict  medical  treatment,  or  sufficiently  well  to  enjoy  the 
comforts  of  life.  The  evening  was  so  pleasant  it  tempted 
him  forth  ;  and  drawing  his  hat  down  low  upon  his  brow, 
and  bending  his  head  to  his  bosom,  he  seemed  inclined  to 
indulge  in  deep  revery  while  walking  upon  the  terrace, 
which  extended  the  whole  length  of  the  building. 

Florence's  tones  reached  him,  and  it  became  evident  at 
once  that  he  was  a  passionate  lover  of  music,  for  he  paused 
suddenly,  and  seemed  much  agitated  by  the  rich  volume 
of  melody  that  filled  the  air. 

Years  had  passed  since  a  voice  so  rich,  and  full,  and 


EAKLT  ENGAGEMENTS.  217 

sweet  had  charmed  his  listening  ear,  and  he  almost  held 
his  very  breath,  lest  to  lose  a  single  tone. 

It  ceased,  and  he  resumed  his  walk.  Again  it  came 
issuing  forth,  and  again  were  his  steps  arrested.  He  was 
now  just  before  the  room  from  whence  the  music  proceeded, 
and  his  glances  were  involuntarily  directed  toward  the 
songstress. 

She  was  sitting  beneath  the  lamp — her  pale,  melancholy 
face  and  wasted  figure  flooded  with  its  brilliant  rays. 

He  bent  eagerly,  breathlessly  forward,  fixing  a  penetra- 
ting gaze  upon  her.  His  face  grew  livid  as  with  the  hues 
of  death,  and  he  leaned  for  support  against  a  tree.  Again 
he  bent  eagerly  forward  for  a  moment,  his  glance  yet  more 
keen  and  searching,  then  retreated  rapidly  away. 

Re-entering  the  room  from  whence  he  had  come,  he  said 
to  the  lady  who  sat  reading  there,  "  Come  with  me  a  mo- 
ment." 

His  voice  was  husky,  and  his  deathly  pallor  alarmed  her, 
but  she  arose,  unquestioning,  to  obey  his  request. 

He  led  her  rapidly  to  the  spot  where,  unperceived,  he 
had  been  gazing  at  Florence.  His  agitation  seemed  at  once 
transfused  to  her,  for  she  trembled  violently,  and  leaned 
somewhat  more  heavily  upon  his  arm. 

Pale  and  weeping  she  replied  to  his  earnest  question — 
Is  it  not  her  ?  "It  must  be,  but  oh  !  how  sadly,  sadly 
changed." 

"  It  was  she,  then,  whom  Mary  met  while  walking  with 
the  children  this  evening,  returning  from  her  child's  grave. 
Mary  told  me  the  tombstone  bore  the  name  of  Henry  Soule 
and  that,  you  know,  is  her  husband's  name.  It  struck  me 
at  the  time,  more  particularly  so,  as  she  told  little  Florence 
19 


218  FLORENCE;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

she  loved  her  name,  because  it  was  the  same  her  father  had 
given  her  ;  and  I  intended  to  inquire,  to-morrow,  further 
concerning  it.  It  must,  it  must  be  Florence.  That  voice — 
was  there  ever  such  another  ?  and  are  not  those  our  songs  ? 
See,  see,  she  has  ceased  singing — the  guitar  has  fallen — 
her  hands  are  clasped  upon  her  eyes  !  I  must  go  to  her 
this  moment ;  do  not  seek  to  detain  me,  when  Florence  is 
so  near,  and  in  trouble." 

Overcome  by  the  recollections  which  came  thronging 
upon  her,  of  the  happy  hours  long  since  gone  by,  Flor- 
ence's voice  became  choked  with  emotion,  and  tears  started 
to  her  eyes. 

"All,  all  is  lost  to  me  forever ! — departed,  to  return  no 
more,  and  I  am  alone — alone — all  alone!"  How  fearfully 
rang  that  doleful  thought  through  the  desolate  chambers 
of  her  heart.  Sinking  back  in  her  chair,  she  clasped  her 
hands  upon  her  eyes,  tears  gushing  through  the  white,  ta- 
pering fingers. 

It  was  now  that  Carrie  (for  it  was  she)  passed  through 
the  opened  casement,  and  hastened  to  her.  Throwing  her 
arms  around  her,  she  exclaimed,  "  Florence,  Florence,  my 
much-loved  friend  !  Have  you  forgotten  Carrie  ?" 

The  sweet,  familiar  tones  of  Carrie's  voice,  addressing 
her  with  the  loved  names  of  "Florence,"  and  "friend," 
thrilled  her  with  a  sudden  sense  of  joy ;  and  there — no 
vision  of  the  imagination — no  illusion  of  the  senses — there 
stood  Carrie  Neville  by  her  side,  blooming  and  beautiful 
as  when  they  had  parted,  not  a  trace  of  sorrow  yet  en- 
stamped  on  her  fair  and  youthful  brow. 

The  twilight  shades  found  Florence  pining  for  love  and 
companionship  in  loneliness  and  utter  desolation.  The 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  219 

evening  closed  with  "  meting  unto  her  the  full  measure  "  of 
her  desires.  For  though  bereaved  of  the  dearest  objects  of 
her  love,  she  could  yet  recline  upon  the  tender,  sympathizing 
bosom  of  this  friend,  feeling  no  longer  that  she  was  "  all 
alone!"  Oh!  saddest  combination  of  terms,  when  used  in 
the  sense  to  which  Florence  referred. 

The  sudden  revulsion  in  her  feelings  proved  more  than 
her  weak  and  enfeebled  powers  could  bear,  and  she  sank 
fainting  into  Carrie's  arms.  Carrie's  screams  of  terror  and 
affright  brought  her  brother  to  her  assistance.  He  lifted 
Florence,  crushed  and  withered  as  a  flower  in  its  bloom, 
and  bore  her  to  a  sofa,  then  retreated  from  a  scene  so  pain- 
fully sad  and  agitating. 

Fanny,  the  servant,  administered  the  usual  restoratives, 
and  after  a  time,  Florence  slowly  unclosed  her  eyes,  as  if 
fearful  to  dispel  the  sweet  vision  which  lingered  even  in  her 
partially  suspended  senses.  Carrie  was  beside  her — it  was 
then  more  than  a  pleasant  dream — it  was  a  fixed,  a  blessed 
reality. 

Carrie's  joy  was  unbounded  at  the  restoration  of  her 
friend.  She  had  been  prostrated  with  grief  for  the  impetu- 
osity which  she  feared  had  destroyed  her ;  and  now  benl 
over  her,  calling  her  by  every  endearing  name.  How  re- 
freshingly fell  the  honey-dew  of  love  upon  her  poor,  wilted 
heart !  She  wept  and  smiled  by  turns. 

"At  length,"  said  she,  gazing  upon  her  with  a  smile 
half-sunshine,  half-shade,  "  you  are  still  the  happy,  joyous 
being  of  other  days,  dearest  Carrie — you  have  escaped  the 
withering  breath  of  sorrow — but  I — I  have  been  most  griev- 
ously chastened.  Let  me  not  murmur,  though,  for  my 


220  FLORENCE  ;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

afflictions  were  merited,  while  you  have  been  happy,  be- 
cause you  so  deserved  it." 

"Alas  !  my  poor,  poor  Florence,  your  countenance  told 
me  of  your  sorrows  ere  I  had  spoken  to  you.  They  are 
past  now,  and  may  He  who  has  so  sorely  smitten  you 
remove  his  chastening  rod." 

Carrie  still  knelt  beside  her,  with  arms  twined  round  her, 
and  face  pressed  closely  to  hers,  and  for  a  time  they  wept 
unrestrainedly  together. 

When  each  became  composed,  Carrie  explained  how 
they  chanced  to  discover  her. 

"Do  you  know,  Florence,  that  I  am  both  a  wife  and 
mother?"  said  she,  with  a  most  exultant  tone  and  manner. 
"  I  would  bring  my  darlings  at  once  to  you,  but  they  are 
sleeping.  Yes,  I  have  now  been  married,  dear  Florence, 
four  bright  and  happy  years.  My  husband,  who  is  an  ar- 
tist, spends  the  summer  in  touring  through  the  country, 
seeking,  amid  its  beautiful  scenes,  fresh  inspiration  for  his 
genius.  I  have  always  accompanied  him  ;  indeed,  I  could 
not  bear  a  long  separation  from  dear  George,"  continued 
she,  smiling  through  some  fugitive  drops  that  momentarily 
dimmed  the  soft  luster  of  her  glances.  "  This  summer  we 
prevailed  upon  my  brother  to  join  our  party,  hoping  that 
traveling  might  prove  beneficial  to  his  health,  which,  I 
regret  to  say,  has  been  declining  for  some  time.  We  are 
now  en  route  for  home — came  here  a  few  days  since  for  a 
brief  sojourn,  not  anticipating  the  happiness  which  has  re- 
sulted from  it.  We  recognized  your  voice  this  evening, 
dearest  Florence,  and  our  old  songs,  and  stood  without  the 
window  until  convinced  that  you  were  our  Florence,  when 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  221 

I  could  no  longer  be  restrained,  but  rushed  to  you,  almost 
putting  an  end  to  your  existence  by  my  imprudence." 

"Do  not  say  so,  Carrie,  darling.  If  human  agency 
might  restore  my  failing  powers,  this  sweet  reunion  would ; 
but  Carrie,  I  feel  that  my  days  are  numbered — that  it  will 
not  be  long  ere  I  go  hence;  and  oh  !  I  am  thankful  that  we 
have  met  again,  even  though  our  time  together  be  short. 
You  will  not  leave  me  again,  Carrie.  How  sad  it  would 
be  to  die  without  a  friend  near  me,  for  I  am  not  only  father- 
less and  motherless,  but  husbandless — childless  !" 

"  Never,  dearest,  never — we  will  never  part  more.  You 
must  lean  upon  my  husband  for  protection.  Already  he 
loves  you  as  a  sister,  for  I  have  spoken  of  you  so  much  to 
him,  and  have  pined  so  sincerely  for  you;  thinking,  alas  ! 
that  as  you  never  wrote  me,  you  had  found  a  watery  grave, 
or  one  within  the  stranger's  land.  Let  my  children  be  thy 
children,  and  my  home,  thine." 

Carrie  remained  with  her  through  the  night.  She  suf- 
fered much  from  nervous  debility — frequently  seemed  about 
to  relapse  again  into  a  swoon.  She  would  startle  in  her  sleep, 
crying  out,  in  piteous  tones,  "  She  is  gone — she  is  gone," 
or,  "  Do  not  leave  me,  Carrie — Oh  !  do  not  leave  me,"  and 
Carrie's  powers  were  tasked  to  the  utmost  to  soothe  her 
excited  nerves. 

The  day  succeeding,  Florence,  from  excessive  debility, 
was  unable  to  rise,  but  Carrie's  children  were  brought  to 
her,  and  little  Theo  was  nestled  to  sleep  upon  her  bosom. 
It  was  happiness  to  be  thus  situated,  but  with  all  earth's 
happiness,  there  are  drops  of  bitterness  infused ;  and  the 
golden  head  now  pillowed  upon  her  arm,  reminded  her 
sadly  of  one  resting  within  the  stern,  cold  arms  of  death. 


222  FLORENCE  ;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

In  the  evening  she  was  better  and  arose.  Came  would 
not  permit  any  of  Fanny's  attentions,  but  with  her  own 
loving  hands  enrobed  her  in  her  cashmere  robe-de-cham- 
bre,  seated  her  in  a  comfortable  chair,  and  smoothed  her 
glossy  tresses. 

Little  Florence,  possessing  all  her  father's  love  for  the 
beautiful,  knelt  beside  Florence,  in  an  ecstasy  of  admiration 
at  the  exquisitely  rich  borders  and  silken  tassels  of  her  dress. 

Carrie  was  all  impatience  for  a  meeting  between  her  hus- 
band and  Florence ;  and,  notwithstanding  her  tender  regard 
for  the  health  of  her  friend,  she  could  not  forbear  request- 
ing permission  to  bring  him  to  her  room. 

"Do  not  think  me  unmindful  of  your  health,  dear  Flor- 
ence, if  I  express  my  great  desire  that  George  may  have 
the  pleasure  of  seeing  you  this  evening.  He  is  most  anx- 
ious, I  assure  you,  and  will  stay  but  a  moment.  I  do  not 
think  it  will  injure  you,"  said  she,  in  half  pleading  tones. 
"  Do  you  feel  well  enough  to  receive  him  ?" 

Florence  could  not  deny  any  request  of  Carrie's,  though 
owing  to  the  depressed  state  of  her  health  and  spirits,  she 
shrank  painfully  from  an  interview  with  a  stranger,  wishing 
him  at  ever  so  remote  a  distance,  provided  his  beautiful 
wife  and  children  remained. 

He  came  to  her  with  a  smile  eloquent  of  the  pleasure  he 
felt  in  forming  her  acquaintance,  and  sitting  beside  her, 
soon  succeeded,  by  his  cordial  and  winning  address,  in  in- 
gratiating himself  into  her  affections,  and  infused  into  her 
drooping  spirits,  somewhat  of  the  life  and  happiness  of  his. 
Each  forbore  to  speak  of  their  former  meeting,  but  Flor- 
ence's glance  of  surprise,  on  their  introduction,  said  plainly, 
"We  have  met  before." 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  223 

In  a  short  time  he  became  almost  as  dear  to  her  as  his 
Carrie  was.  She  clung  to  him,  as  one  bereft  of  every 
earthly  protector  save  him ;  and  when  he  told  her  that  he, 
like  herself,  was  without  fraternal  ties,  and  that  she  must 
supply  that  void  in  his  heart,  and  that  he  would  be  to  her 

a  brother,  and  proposed  her  returning  with  them  to  S 

vale,  as  soon  as  her  health  would  admit,  to  make  that  her 
future  home,  she  loved  him  tenfold  more  for  the  interest 
he  manifested  in  her  bereaved  and  lonely  condition. 

"  Carrie,"  said  he,  "  has  been  pining  sadly  for  you  this 
long  time,  but  now,  I  opine,  she  will  become  as  gay  and 
happy  as  little  Miss  Florence,  here" — with  a  smile  of  af- 
fectionate pleasure,  he  stroked  the  silken  curls  of  the  little 
maiden  who  leaned  upon  him.  "  She  needs  companionship 
badly,  for  my  business  keeps  me  in  the  city  the  greater 
part  of  the  time,  and  you  must  consent  to  make  my 
absence  endurable  to  her." 

Florence  yielded  to  their  earnest  desires,  saying  sadly; 
"  I  go  the  more  willingly  that  the  state  of  my  health  warns 
me  of  my  near  dissolution,  and  I  would  have  some  kind 
and  loving  friends  near  me  in  that  trying  hour." 

"Do  not  speak  thus  despondingly,  Florence,"  said 
Carrie,  tears  springing  to  her  beautiful  eyes.  "  Many 
happy  days  I  fervently  hope  may  be  yours  yet  on  earth. 
You  remember  you  were  an  invalid  before  when  you  went 

to  S and  how  rapidly  you  recovered.     Thus  it  will  be 

again,  I  hope." 

Florence  felt  the  vanity  of  the  hope,  yet  she  would  not 
pain  Carrie,  by  again  reiterating  her  firm  convictions  that 
her  life  was  tending  rapidly  to  a  close. 

Though  Florence  had  been  informed  by  Carrie,  the  first 


224  FLOKENCE  ;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

evening  they  met,  that  the  pastor  was  near  her;  and  subse- 
quently by  a  message  which  Carrie  delivered  "  that  he 
would  be  most  happy  for  an  interview  at  as  early  a  time  as 
suited  her  convenience,"  she  expressed  no  desires  to  see 
him,  for  the  reason  that  she  felt  none.  She  had  long  out- 
lived every  vestige  of  her  attachment  to  him,  and  subse- 
quent sorrows  had  almost  effaced  from  her  remembrance 
even  the  grief-pangs  she  had  endured  in  consequence. 
Very  different  was  her  affection  for  Carrie,  which  time  had 
but  served  to  strengthen,  and  make  more  fond  and  tender. 
But  Carrie,  she  knew,  had  returned  "measure  for  measure" 
of  love.  Neither  was  there  connected  with  their  affection, 
"  guilt,  grief,  and  suffering,"  as  there  had  been  with  the 
other.  He  was  to  her  now,  even  as  a  stranger. 

Carrie  was  anxiously  solicitous  that  her  brother  should 
be  admitted  to  their  happy  circle,  but  forbore,  from  innate 
delicacy,  to  urge  her  wishes,  until  she  should  receive  from 
Florence  some  intimation  of  her  feelings  on  the  subject. 

As  soon  as  George  understood  how  matters  were,  he  de- 
termined to  effect  a  meeting  between  them.  Accordingly, 
one  evening,  when  about  to  enter  Florence's  room,  he  said 
to  Mr.  Neville,  whose  eyes  were  turned  thitherward  with  a 
longing  glance,  "I  am  surprised,  Theodore,  that  you  Kave 
not  yet  called  on  your  old  friend.  She  is  sufficiently  re- 
covered to  give  you  an  audience.  Come,  I  will  be  your 
chaperon  this  evening — What  say  you?". 

He  smiled  a  grateful  acquiescence,  and  they  entered  the 
room  together.  Florence  was  lying  on  the  sofa,  her  pale 
face  looking  yet  more  pale,  from  contrast  with  her  sable 
clothes.  Tears  were  fallen  upon  her  ashen  cheek,  yet  her 
expression  denoted  peace  and  contentment,  that  the  storms 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  225 

of  sorrow  which  had  once  agitated  her  bosom  were  past. 
She  was  listening  to  Carrie,  who  Avas  singing  one  of  their 
sweet  old  songs. 

The  pastor  regarded  her  with  deep  emotion.  His  feelino- 
heart  was  grieved  to  behold  the  ravages  sorrow  and  suffer- 
ing had  wrought  in  that  once  blooming  and  joyous 
beino-. 

O 

When  the  song  was  ended,  George  approached  her,  say- 
ing in  his  own  vivacious  manner;  "Florence,  I  have  brought 
your  old  friend,  Mr.  Neville,  to  see  you.  I  knew  it  would 
afford  you  pleasure,  notwithstanding,  as  I  have  heard,  he 
used  to  scold  you  sometimes  for  not  having  learned  your 
lessons  as  well  as  you  might." 

Florence  rose  to  receive  him,  slightly  smiling  at  George's 
remarks,  her  manner  betraying  neither  pleasure,  nor  pain, 
but  an  indifference  which  must  have  surprised  all  present, 
it  was  so  unlike  the  feeling  which  usually  characterizes  the 
meeting  of  friends  who  have  long  been  sundered. 

It  was  not  thus  with  Mr.  Neville.  His  emotion  was 
plainly  visible,  as  her  hand  rested.within  his,  and  he  sought 
to  express  his  pleasure  at  the  meeting. 

Florence  noticed  his  agitation,  and  thought  "he  is  sur- 
prised to  find  me  so  greatly  changed  in  appearance."  She 
perceived  that  time  had  dealt  less  leniently  with  him  than 
his  sister — for  there  were  traces  of  sorrow  and  care  in- 
grained upon  his  brow. 

When  he  sought  to  address  her  by  her  changed  name, 
the  words  died  in  his  throat,  and  he  said,  with  an  effort  to 
smile;  "You  will  permit  me  to  call  you  Florence,  as  I  did 
in  the  days  of  which  George  has  just  spoken,  when  you 


226  FLORENCE;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

were  my  pupil,  and  I — I  hope,  was  not  the  rigid  tutor  he 
affirms  me  to  have  been. 

Florence  replied  something  about  preferring  to  be  called 
thus  by  her  friends;  but  her  cold,  repellant  manner,  chilled 
the  pastor,  and  neither  George's  vivacity  nor  Carrie's  gentle 
efforts  could  dispel  the  reserve  of  the  meeting. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  227 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

Sweet  valley,  whoso  streams  flow  as  sparkling  and  bright 

As  the  stars  that  descend  in  the  depths  of  the  night; 

Whose  violets  fling  their  rich  hreath  in  the  air, 

Sweet  spendthrifts  of  treasure  the  spring  has  flung  there. — LANDOS. 

With  heating  heart,  and  bosom  wrung, 

As  to  a  brothers  arm  she  clung, 

Gently  he  dried  the  falling  tear, 

And  gently  whispered  hope  and  cheer. — SCOTT 

And  sadness  hath  o'ershadowed,  now, 

Thy  once  bright  eye ; 
But  look  on  me,  the  prints  of  grief 

Still  deeper  lie. — MOTHERWELL, 

ONCE  more  Florence  stood  within  the  "  time  honored" 
halls  of  the  Seminary,  having  proceeded  thither  by  slow  and 
easy  stages.  The  busy  fingers  of  time  had  wrought  sad 
changes  there,  too.  The  blood  of  the  Paschal  lamb  was 
not  found  upon  the  door  when  the  death  angel  passed,  and 
its  "  first  born"  was  fallen !  The  kind  and  good  Mrs. 
Ormond  was  "  sunk  to  the  sleep  that  knoweth  no  awaken- 
ing"— her  pupils,  scattered  broadcast  over  the  West,  had 
borne  away  with  them  the  inestimable  treasure  of  her 
moral  and  mental  teachings,  to  enrich  the  new  homes  over 
which  they  were  destined  to  preside. 

The  Seminary  property  which  had  become  the  joint  pos- 
session of  Mr.  Neville  and  Carrie,  by  Mrs.  Ormond's  will, 
had  been  refitted  and  adapted  for  a  private  residence,  and 
was  now  Carrie's  home. 

Months   came   and   went,    and  there   was  no   apparent 


220  FLORENCE  ;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

improvement  in  Florence's  health ;  but  her  friends  hoped 
that  when  the  inclemency  of  winter  was  passed,  and  she 
could  go  forth  into  the  life-giving,  joy-restoring,  earth- 
blessing  air  of  spring,  her  health  and  strength  would 
return. 

Though  the  light  and  the  joy  of  that  once  buoyant 
heart  was  quenched  in  sadness,  there  was  much  in  the 
kindly  affections  of  her  friends  to  console  her  in  her 
bereavements.  Yet  often  there  came  to  her,  thoughts,  like 
sighs  from  the  spirit-land,  of  the  lost  "loved  ones;"  nor 
did  her  affection  for  them  wane,  because  of  the  daily 
twining  of  her  heart's  tendrils  in  more  increasing  fondness 
around  her  living  friends. 

She  anticipated  George's  returns  from  the  city,  every 
evening,  with  almost  as  much  pleasure  as  Carrie  ;  and 
deeply  felt  the  inspiration  of  his  gay  flow  of  spirits  in  the 
family  circle. 

There  was  one  member  of  the  family  who  was  not 
folded  in  the  embraces  of  her  heart,  and  strange  as  it  may 
seem,  it  was  he  who  once  ruled  over  it  with  a  sway  so  all- 
powerful  as  to  threaten  its  utter  destruction.  Perhaps  it 
was  the  painful  remembrance  of  former  bondage  that  now 
sealed  it  against  him ;  or  it  may  have  been,  that  having 
been  faithless  to  Harry,  living,  she  would  be  true  to  him, 
dead;  or  it  was,  more  probably,  that  the  oft-repeated  shocks 
which  the  finest,  and  most  exquisitely-  tender  sensibilities 
of  her  soul  had  sustained,  had  blunted  them,  or  perhaps 
destroyed  forever  their  recuperative  power.  All  his  over- 
tures of  friendship  were  received  with  the  cold  indifference 
of  a  totally  estranged  heart,  or  a  heart  dulled  to  the  power 
of  love. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  229 

Her  estranged  behavior  would  have  been  the  source  of 
deep  pain  to  the  pastor,  under  any  circumstances,  but  pre- 
sent ones  rendered  it  peculiarly  aggravated ;  for  now  she 
was  "  oppressed  and  afflicted,"  and  it  was  his  office  to  seek 
to  bind  the  wounded  and  chastened  spirit  up ;  and  in  the 
case  of  one  so  beloved,  how  great  a  happiness  so  to  have 
done.  But  his  efforts  were  rejected — she  had  surrounded 
herself  with  a  reserve  so  impenetrable,  he  gave  up  all 
hopes  of  overcoming  it,  and  ceased  even  to  conjecture  the 
cause  of  so  strange  and  unnatural  an  aversion. 

All  his  old  love  was  revived  with  their  reunion,  notwith- 
standing that  the  blooming  graces,  and  wild,  glad  spirits  of 
her  earlier  years  were  departed.  In  her  marble  features, 
chastened  by  sorrow,  and  the  glancing  forth  from  her  dark 
eye 

Of  glorious  thought 

That  scorn'd  earth's  vanities, 

there  were  charms  which  won  a  much  higher  meed   of 

O 

admiration  than  had  the  lost  ones;  and  yet  he  knew  that  he 
was  loving  without  the  shadow  of  a  hope.  How  sad,  how 
terrible  is  that  "sickness  of  the  soul"  which  unrequited 
love  inflicts  !  In  the  whole  catalogue  "  of  ills  to  which 
flesh  is  heir,"  where  shall  we  find  another  which  may  com- 
pare with  it  ?  His  spirit  was  bowed  to  the  very  dust — far 
more  painful  was  his  present  situation,  than  formerly,  when 
in  bitterness  of  grief,  he  first  learned  that  she  was  lost  to 
him  forever.  So  near  to  her,  in  one  sense,  yet  separated 
by  a  vast  frozen  ocean,  whose  icy  waste  he  might  not  pen- 
etrate. 

The  wings  of  the  Spring  were  once  more  unfettered,  and 
gayly  she  sped  over  hill  and  dell,  bestowing  her  floral  and 


230  FLORENCE  ;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

choral  treasures  in  lavish  profusion  on  the  earth  ;  and  the 
earth,  like  the  mourner  Job,  cast  from  her  the  sackcloth  and 
ashes  of  her  desolation,  and  her  "  latter  days"  became  yet 
more  exceedingly  prosperous,  and  abundantly  blessed. 

The  sanguine  hopes  of  Florence's  friends,  in  regard  to 
her  health,  were  not  realized — spring's  revivifying  breath 
did  not  bring  an  accession  of  strength  to  her,  but  on  the 
contrary,  a  constantly  increasing  languor  pervaded  her. 

The  pastor,  too,  was  strangely  changed  in  the  past  few 
months.  He  was  thinner,  and  paler,  and  yet  more  hope- 
lessly sad.  Even  the  bright  and  joyous-hearted  Carrie 
seemed  to  have  caught  the  infection.  Those  rosebud  lips, 
once  the  perpetual  haunt  of  the  sunniest  smiles,  now  often 
quivered  beneath  the  pressure  of  a  secret  grief,  and  her 
gentle  heart  ached  with  its  accumulation  of  sighs.  By 
closely  observing  her  brother,  she  had  become  convinced 
that  her  former  surmises,  in  regard  to  the  sentiments  he 
entertained  for  Florence,  were  correct ;  and  by  an  equally 
close  observation  of  Florence,  she  had  arrived  at  the  sad 
conclusion  that  her  heart  was  buried  in  the  tomb  forever — 
that  for  it  there  was  no  resurrection !  But 

"The  best  laid  schemes  of  mice  and  men 
Gang  aft  ajee," 

says  Burns;  and  so,  often,  the  most  carefully  arrived  at  con- 
clusions, prove  erroneous. 

Sincerely  she  mourned  his  desolation  of  heart,  and  its 
sad  effects  on  his  physical  system.  Yet  the  delicate  nature 
of  his  sorrows  forbade  any  attestations  of  her  sympathy, 
other  than  in  increased,  and  more  affectionate  attentions. 

Florence's  own  attention  was  directed  to  his  despond- 
ency and  failing  health,  by  witnessing  Carrie's  efforts  to 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  231 

dissipate  the  former,  and  her  melancholy  anxiety  for  the 
latter.  She  did  not  fail  to  perceive  the  change  that  had 
come  over  him  in  the  months  elapsed  since  their  meeting 
at  the  Virginia  Springs ;  and  she  mourned  for  her  friend 
Carrie,  on  whose  clear  skies  clouds  of  sorrow  were  begin- 
ning to  lower. 

"In  the  cup  of  life,"  mused  she,  "there  is  a  constant 
mingling  of  the  bitter  with  the  sweet ;  and  though  happi- 
ness may  be  ours,  sorrows  must  come  naturally  as  "  the 
sparks  fly  upward ;"  present  joy,  therefore,  should  be 
chastened  by  the  anticipation  of  future  grief,  or  present 
sorrow  lose  somewhat  of  its  sting  in  the  memory  of  joys  to 
come.  Heretofore,  Carrie's  life  has  been  made  up  of  sun- 
shine and  gladness,  but  soon,  very  soon  will  she  be  called 
to  taste  the  bitterness  of  sorrow.  My  own  failing  powers 
admonish  me,  that  before  this  beauteous  season  will  have 
reached  its  meridian,  I  shall  have  drawn  the  mantle  of  its 
flowers  about  me,  and  sunk,  like  a  wearied  child,  upon  its 
mother's  breast,  into  the  deep,  dreamless  death-sleep. 
Sadly  she  will  mourn  for  me,  her  well  beloved  friend,  as 
she  has  ever  endearingly  called  me.  But  yet  a  deeper 
sorrow  awaits  her ;  for  her  kind  and  loving  brother,  too, 
seems  rapidly  hastening  to  the  grave.  How  sad  to  think 
of  it!  I  may  pass  away  "  as  the  morning  cloud,  or  early 
dew,"  and  my  loss  will  be  unnoticed  and  unfelt  by  all,  save 
George  and  Carrie.  But  how  great  a  void  will  his  death 
create— how  many  a  heart  will  sigh  over  the  "killing  frost" 
that  destroyed  him  in  his  morning's  prime.  Alas  !  that 
so  much  worth,  intelligence  and  usefulness  should  be 
quenched  in  the  darkness  of  the  tomb.  '  Death  ever  loves 
a  shining  mark,'  'tis  said,  and  virtues,  however  transcend- 


232  FLORENCE;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

ent,  may  not  exempt  their  possessor  from  ,his  insatiate  de- 
mands. But  he  is  strangely  sad,  and  melancholy  of  late — 
Once  he  was  not  so — Why  is  it?  Death  can  have  no  terrors 
to  the  soul  at  peace  with  its  God,  and  who  views  it  as  the 
unfolding  of  the  gate  for  its  release  from  a  world  of  ills,  to 
one  of  perpetual  bliss  !  Earthly  sorrows,  perhaps,  rest 
crushingly  on  his  gentle  spirit ;  and  yet  of  what  nature  I 
cannot  see,  blest  as  he  is  in  all  the  relations  of  life.  Uni- 
versal respect  and  esteem  are  his,  and  he  is  inestimably 
rich  in  those  jewels  of  the  heart — friends  of  God's  own 
providing — surely  never  was  a  brother  so  idolized  as  he. 
And  yet  it  is  strange  that  Carrie's  and  George's  affection, 
deep  as  it  is,  should  satisfy  all  the  demands  of  his  heart. 
Strange,  indeed,  that  one  of  his  eminently  social  qualities — 
one  who  so  highly  appreciates  the  delights  of  the  domestic 
circle,  should  now  be  verging  on  the  noon  of  life,  without 
having  sought  to  secure  for  himself  that  which  is  so  highly 
prized.  And  so  he  may  have  done.  Perhaps  it  is  affection 
unreturned  that  has  shadowed  his  spirit  in  gloom.  But  that 
scarce  can  be.  I  remember,  in  my  girlhood,  to  have 
thought,  that  there  was  not  a  maiden  who  could  desire  for 
more  than  his  love — than  the  love  of  one,  in  whom  every 
excellence  of  the  human  character  seems  combined — yes, 
I  madly  aspired  to  it,  myself- — I  became  frenzied  with  pas- 
sion— every  pulse  of  my  being  was  vitalized  by  it!" 

Unconsciously  her  thoughts  had  drifted  away  back  to 
the  past,  and  many  incidents  of  that  happy  time  rose  up 
before  her.  As  she  sat  by  the  window,  her  glance 
wandered  from  one  loved  spot  to  another,  all  of  which  were 
rendered  dear  by  some  trivial  circumstance  of  other  days 
in  which  he  was  associated. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  233 

The  calm,  peaceful,  motionless  waters  of  her  soul  began 
to  quiver — to  thrill — to  surge  wildly — and  to  grow  yet 
more  troublous.  She  arose,  to  dispel  the  half  pleasant, 
half  painful  reverie  into  which  she  was  fallen,  and  went 
into  the  nursery.  She  did  not  caress  little  Theo  with  her 
usual  fondness — in  fact,  she  turned  away  almost  as  sud- 
denly as  she  entered.  Those  large,  blue  eyes,  with  their 
mild,  loving  expression,  and  that  massive  forehead  were 
the  faithful  portraiture  of  one  she  would  fain  drive  from 
her  thoughts. 

Her  agitated  bosom  did  not  soon  regain  its  composure — 
the  master  passion  which  she  had  thought  quite  extinct, 
had  risen  from  its  long  slumbers,  and  begun  to  resume  its 
empire  there.  The  fact  that  Mr.  JSTeville,  like  herself,  was 
a  sufferer  created  a  bond  of  sympathy  between  them,  and 
her  indifference  was  supplanted  by  an  interest  in  his  wel- 
fare, gradually  becoming  more  tender  and  solicitous  even 
than  Carrie's. 

Once  their  eyes  met,  and  her  glance  was  so  full  of  sym- 
pathy, the  pastor's  brightened  suddenly  with  a  mot  thrill- 
ing luster.  It  fell  upon  her  wilted  heart  as  a  dewdrop  of 
heaven.  A  moment  hence,  and  a  sickening  shudder  per- 
vaded her. 

"Am  I  madly  yielding  to  the  tempter  again?  Have  I 
not  already  suffered  severely  enough  ?  Will  not  the  bitter 
past  suffice  as  a  warning?"  Fain  would  she  have  gathered 
back  her  straying  affections;  but  the  leash  unguardedly 
removed  for  a  moment,  they  were  now  far  beyond  her 
powers  of  control. 

She  avoided  his  presence — became  yet  more  reserved — 
thoughts  of  his  death  perpetually  haunting  her.     So  mor- 
20 


234  FLORENCE;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

bidly  nervous  had  she  become  on  that  point,  from  the  loss 
of  all  those  most  dear,  that  his  pallid  brow  seemed  to  her 
already  to  bear  the  stamp  of  the  grave. 

She  was  sitting,  one  evening,  in  the  parlor,  in  the  deep 
recess  of  a  window,  her  mind  tortured  by  the  most  gloomy 
apprehensions  and  dread  of  coming  evil.  She  was  all 
alone,  for  Carrie  was  walking  on  the  lawn  with  her  brother. 
In  their  peregrinations  back  and  forth,  she  had  an  opportu- 
nity of  observing  them,  and  from  time  to  time  their  tremu- 
lous tones  were  borne  to  her,  though  their  words  were 
indistinct.  From  their  manner,  and  the  unusual  degree 
of  sadness  depicted  on  Carrie's  countenance,  she  judged 
that  he  had  been  making  a  startling,  and  most  unpleasant 
communication,  and  was  with  melancholy  persuasion  trying 
to  enforce  Carrie's  resignation. 

And  so  it  proved.  He  had  just  announced  his  intention 
of  joining  Dr.  Melville,  in  New  York,  to  accompany  him 
in  a  tour  of  some  years'  duration  through  Europe  and  the 
Holy  Land.  "  You  know,  Caroline,  I  have  long  desired  to 
visit  those  countries,  and  the  present  offers  a  most  favorable 
opportunity.  Beside,  my  health  demands  the  change," 
said  he — his  voice  faltered  and  he  ceased  speaking  for  some 
moments — then,  as  if  he  felt  that  his  sister  merited  all  his 
confidence,  he  unburdened  the  sorrows  of  his  soul  to  her. 
Absence  from  Florence,  he  hoped,  might  enable  him  to 
overcome  his  affection,  which  he  had  found  to  be  an  impos- 
sibility so  long  as  he  remained  near  her. 

Darkness  came  on,  and  Mr.  Neville  and  Carrie  re-entered 
the  parlor,  and  sat  down  together.  The  room  was  bril- 
liantly lighted,  but  Florence  sat  where  heavy  shadows  fell, 
and  was  unperceived  by  them.  Still  continuing  the  con- 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  235 

rersation,  Mr.  Neville  drew  forth  from  his  bosom  a  folded 
paper  and  handed  it  to  Carrie. 

"  You  have  heretofore  refused  to  accept  my  part  of  the 
property  bequeathed  us  by  our  lamented  sister;  but  under 
present  circumstances,  Caroline,  you  surely  -will  refuse  no 
longer.  Accept  it  as  a  bequest  to  my  little  namesake. 
When  I  am  gone " 

A  deep  sob,  or  rather  moan  of  agony,  broke  startlingly 
on  them,  and  checked  their  further  conversation,  and  Car- 
rie's rising  tears.  Looking  in  the  direction  whence  it  came, 
they  discovered  Florence  convulsed  with  emotion,  her  head 
buried  in  her  hands. 

Forgetful  of  the  sorrow  which  the  prospect  of  a  long 
separation  from  her  brother  would  naturally  cause,  Carrie 
hastened  to  her,  and  bent  consolingly  over  her.  She  was 
alarmed  at  witnessing  her  throes  of  agony,  but  did  not 
question  her  of  the  cause,  naturally  attributing  it  to  the 
memory  of  some  former  affliction. 

The  pastor  looked  yearningly  at  her,  as  though  he,  too, 
longed  to  approach  with  offers  of  consolation,  but  did 
not.  He  arose,  and  left  the  room. 

The  night  was  spent  by  Florence,  as  many  others  had 
been — in  sorrow  and  tears.  Her  morbid  and  gloomy  imagi- 
nation had  given  to  the  conversation  she  had  overheard  a 
widely  erroneous  construction.  She  thought  he  was  speak- 
ing of  his  death,  and  it  seemed  to  her,  by  so  doing,  that  he 
himself  had  issued  the  verdict  against  his  own  life.  Dole- 
fully— ah,  dolefully !  tolled  her  heart's  knell  for  the  death 
of  its  last,  fond  hope. 


236  FLORENCE;  A  SEQUEL  TO 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

Seme  dream  that  they  can  silence,  when  they  will, 

The  storm  of  passion,  and  say,  'Peace,  be  stitt ;' 

But  'Thus  far,  and  no  farther,'  when  addregs'd 

To  the  wild  wave,  or  wilder  human  breast, 

Implies  authority,  that  never  can, 

That  never  ought  to  be  the  lot  of  man. — COWPER'S  PROOEESS  OF  ERROR. 

Affectionate  in  look, 
And  tender  in  address,  as  well  becomes 
A  messenger  of  grace  to  guilty  men.        COWPER. 

A  chiel  's  amang  us  takin'  notes.  BURNS. 

FLORENCE  was  too  unwell  to  leave  her  chamber  durinsr 

O 

the  next  day,  but  in  the  evening  Carrie  prevailed  on  her  to 
come  down  into  the  back  parlor  with  her,  as  she  was  all 
alone. 

"  George,"  said  she,  "will  not  return  this  evening,  and 
Theodore  is  gone,  I  know  not  whither.  I  shall  be  very 
lonely  unless  you  take  compassion  on  me  and  grant  me  the 
pleasure  of  your  society.  Come,  Florence,  and  I  will  read, 
or  sing,  or  do  whatever  you  may  suggest  to  hasten  the 
march  of  the  dreary  hours.  Dear  George,  how  wearily 
the  evenings  drag  when  he  is  gone !  How  much  we  miss 
him !" 

Even  the  slight  effort  required  to  reach  the  parlor  over- 
came Florence  with  fatigue,  and  she  sank  upon  the  sofa 
nearest  her.  Carrie  comfortably  arranged  its  pillows,  and 
after  bestowing  sundry  little  attentions,  which  her  affection 
prompted,  sat  down  by  the  table  and  began  turning  over 
the  richly-bound  volumes  that  adorned  it. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  237 

"  Shall  we  continue  our  pilgrimage  with  Chaucer  and  his 
'nine  and  twenty  in  a  compagnie'  to  the  holy  shrine  of 
Canterbury?"  said  she,  opening  the  volume  at  the  page, 
whei'e  George  had  left  off"  reading  the  evening  preceding. 
"  I  scarcely  think  we  will  find  their  'tales'  as  entertaining  as 
did  the  Arabian  prince  the  '  thousand  and  one'  related  to 
him  by  his  charming  wife.  I  confess  I  do  not  very  much 
admire  their  antique  phraseology.  Now,  if  George  were 
here  to  hear  this,  he  would  laughingly  term  me  a  modern 
Fadladeen.  Ah !  here  is  Motherwell.  Though  he  is  called 
a  minor  poet  he  has  written  some  very  fine  things.  Have 
you  ever  read  his  Sabbath  Summer  Noon,  Florence  ?" 

"No,  I  think  not." 

"  Then  I  shall  do  myself  the  pleasure  of  reading  it  to 
you  this  evening." 

She  threw  into  her  voice  a  "  deep,  unbroken  dreaminess" 
of  tone,  that  admirably  harmonized  with  the  spirit  of  the 
poem ;  and  had  just  finished  reading,  with  somewhat  more 
enthusiasm  of  manner,  the  closing  stanzas — 

"  So,  even  now  this  hour  hath  sped 

In  rapturous  thought  o'er  me; 
Feeling  myself  with  nature  wed, — 

A  holy  mystery, — 
A  part  of  earth,  a  part  of  heaven, 

A  part,  great  God !  of  Thee,"— 

when  the  pastor  entered  the  room. 

"Thank  you,  dear  brother,"  said  she,  looking  up  smilingly 
at  him,  "  for  this  opportune  appearance.  I  have  been  try- 
in^  to  brino-  before  Florence's  mental  ken  some  of  Mother- 

O  O 

well's  beauties;  but  I  will   pass   the  book  over  to  you, 
knowing  that  you  will  be  much  more  successful  in  the 


238  FLORENCE;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

attempt  than  I.  Your  elocution,  and  George's,  give  me 
quite  an  humble  opinion  t>f  mine." 

He  took  the  volume  extended  to  him,  and  whether  by 
accident  or  design,  turned  to  the  touching  lyric  "Jeanie 
Morrison." 

Florence  was  still  reclining  on  the  sofa,  lulled  into  a  sort 
of  dreamy  repose  by  Carrie's  reading.  Her  eyes  were 
closed,  and  their  long,  dark  lashes  lay  like  a  somber  cloud 
upon  her  marble  cheek.  As  his  low,  rich  tones  fell  upon 
her  ear,  she  gave  herself  up,  for  a  brief  time,  to  the  most 
delicious  sense  of  happiness.  She  did  not  notice  the  vibra- 
tions of  his  voice  in  reading  the  lines  in  which  the  poet 
refers  to  the  "  sweet  time — sad  time,"  when  he  and  his 
"  young  love"  bent  over  the  same  page,  and  exclaims 

"  Thy  lips  were  on  thy  lesson,  but 
My  lesson  was  in  thec," 

or  in  the  touching  lines  where  he  speaks  of  his  love  : 

"  The  fount  that  first  burst  frae  this  heart, 

Still  travels  on  its  way ; 
And  channels  deeper  as  it  rins, 
The  luve  o'  life's  young  day." 

She  did  not  observe,  as  we  said  before,  that  his  voice 
became  slightly  tremulous,  and  was  enriched  with  a  deeper 
pathos  as  he  gave  utterance  to  these  sentiments  of  the 
poet — she  heard  not  a  word  of  what  he  was  reading — she 
was  conscious  only  of  his  presence,  and  the  music  of  his 
voice ;  all  the  long  slumbering  chords  of  gladness  in  her 
bosom  were  waked  to  life,  and  yielded  exquisite  melody  to 
their  magical  influence.  Then  a  shade  passed  over  her. 

"This  must  not,  must  not  be.     Why  should  I  indulge  in 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  239 

a  dream  of  happiness,  even  for  a  moment  ?  Is  it  not  all 
delusive  ?  Have  I  not  proven  it  to  be  the  "vanity  of  vani- 
ties." Can  it  be  that  I  am  again  yielding  my  heart  to  an 
earthly  passion  ?  Has  a  new  affection  sprung  from  the 
ashes  of  the  past  ?  Yes,  yes,  I  do  love  him — not  wildly, 
madly,  passionately,  as  in  my  girlhood,  but  a  "thousand 
fold"  more  tenderly;  'tis  folly  to  chide  myself  for  that  which 
may  not  be  avoided.  Scarce  might  an  anchorite  know  of 
all  his  nobleness  of  mind  and  soul  and  not  be  softened  into 
love  for  him.  Yet,  oh  !  that  dreadful  thought !  must  he 
too,  die  ? — go  down  to  the  grave  !  Must  the  light  of  that 
glorious  intellect  be  lost  in  the  tomb  ?  I  will  go  hence — I 
cannot  remain — if  the  thought  frenzies  me,  what  must  the 
reality  prove  ?  I  shall  go  home — even  my  gloomy  home 
will  be  preferable  to  remaining  here  to  witness  the  fading 
away  of  another  heart-treasure." 

He  finished  the  poem,  and  returned  the  book  to  the  table 
on  which  his  elbow  was  resting.  His  head  reclined  upon 
his  uplifted  hand,  and  whether  it  was  that  because  Florence 
was  lying  just  in  the  range  of  his  vision,  or  that  the  eye  will 
naturally  seek  the  most  pleasing  object  to  rest  on,  we  know 
not,  but  so  it  was,  his  gaze  was  riveted  on  her. 

"Poor  Motherwell,"  said  Carrie,  "  he  passed  through  life 
with  a  lonely  heart ;  how  sad  to  think  that  the  termination 
of  their  brief  and  happy  school  days  separated  those  loving 
hearts  forever.  I  believe  Mrs.  Murdock,  formerly  Jeanie 
Morrison,  never  knew  of  the  passion  she  had  inspired  in  the 
breast  of  the  poet ;  and  that  her  memory  would  be  pre- 
served through  coming  time  by  the  amber  of  his  verse. 
Truly  said  sweet  L.  E.  L. 

'  A  poet's  love  Is  Immortality.' 


240  FLORENCE ;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

How  many  of  the  gifted  sons  of  song  have  been  dealt  with, 
thus  unkindly,  by  fate.  Byron,  Burns,  Petrarch,  Mother- 
well  and  others  have  been  mourners  over  the  tomb  of  a 
first  and  best  love  ;  yet  George,  who  always  makes  the 
best  of  untoward  events,  would  say  that  their  loss  has  been 
our  unspeakable  gain,  since  by  it  our  literature  has  become 
enriched  with  some  of  its  most  beautiful  productions." 

The  pastor  replied  to  her  remarks  in  an  abstracted  man- 
ner ;  nor  did  the  various  artifices  to  which  little  Florence 
resorted,  to  attract  his  attention,  meet  with  their  usual  suc- 
cess. She  had  always  been  a  great  pet  of  his,  and  was 
quite  spoiled  by  the  attentions  he  had  bestowed  on  her. 
But  latterly  her  artless  innocence  and  winning  manners  had 
failed  to  delight  him  as  formerly.  He  was  burdened  with 
a  sorrow  beyond  the  graces  of  childhood  to  lighten.  After 
many  overtures  of  love  on  her  part,  which  were  not  re- 
warded by  even  a  passing  notice,  for  his  glances  were  still 
fixed  on  Florence,  in  vexatious  disappointment,  she  burst 
into  a  violent  fit  of  weeping. 

"  Why,  Florie,  darling,  what  is  the  matter  now  ?"  said 
Carrie,  "  come  here  and  tell  mamma  what  ails  you  I" 

She  wept  and  sobbed  for  some  moments  on  her  mother's 
bosom,  and  to  her  oft-repeated  inquiries,  What  had  caused 
her  grief  ?  sobbingly  replied,  looking  toward  her  uncle, 
"He  does  not  love  me,  any  more,  since  aunt  Florence 

came — he  only  loves  her." 

f 

Florence  had  risen  from  her  recumbent  position,  and  was 
sitting  where  the  rays  of  the  lamp  shone  directly  upon  her. 
She  started — trembled  violently — and  the  blood  swept  in 
torrents  to  her  pallid  brow.  Her  eyes  were  involuntarily 
turned  to  Mr.  Neville's,  and  there  was  that  in  their  expres- 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  241 

sion  which  he  was  strangely  puzzled  to  interpret.  Certainly 
there  was  neither  disgust  nor  aversion,  but  rather  an  expres- 
sion which  sought  to  know  if  he  confirmed  the  child's  art- 
less declaration. 

Carrie  colored  quite  as  deeply  as  Florence,  and  sought  to 
dispel  the  painful  embarrassment  the  child  had  innocently 
caused,  by  saying,  "  Why  Florence,  Florence,  mamma  is 
pained  at  your  selfishness.  Are  you  unwilling  that  your 
uncle  should  love  any  but  yourself  ?  Fie — fie — have  I  not 
often  told  you  that  our  blessed  Saviour  commands  us  to 
love  every  one  ?" 

The  child  hid  her  face  in  her  mother's  bosom ;  her  sensi- 
tive little  heart  wounded  afresh  by  this  reproof. 

"  Come  to  me  Florie,"  said  Mr.  Neville,  in  a  gently- 
coaxing  manner.  "  Come — kiss  me  now,  and  tell  me  that 
you  forgive  me  for  my  neglect  lately.  I  have  been  very 
unwell,  and  it  was  owing  to  this,  and  not  that  I  had  ceased 
to  love  you  less." 

She  was  soon  prattling  merrily  on  her  uncle's  knee — in 
truth,  supporting  the  most  of  the  conversation,  for  he  was  a 
listener  rather  than  a  participator,  and  Florence  had  sunk 
back  upon  the  sofa  in  silence,  and  her  mother  had  gone  to 
see  little  Theo  safely  laid  to  rest  in  his  crib. 

April-hearted  childhood  !  how  many  a  sigh  is  heaved 
over  thy  vanished  hours— hours  when  the  sunshine  of  glad- 
ness so  rapidly  succeeded  the  clouds  and  showers  of  sad- 
ness and  grief. 

Carrie  re-entered.  "  Come,  love,"  said  she,  addressing 
little  Florence,  "  it  is  your  hour  for  retiring." 

The  child  threw  her  arms  round  her  uncle  in  joyous  gay- 
ety  of  heart,  and  kissed  him  ;  then  sprang  down,  and  ran 
21 


242  FLORENCE ;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

to  Florence  to  bid  her  good-night  also.  Florence's  eyes 
were  filled  with  tears,  and  her  lips  quivered  as  she  bent 
over  to  embrace  her.  The  observant  little  maiden  saw  her 
emotion,  and  gazed  at  her  a  moment  half  wistfully,  half 
timidly — then  throwing  her  arms  about  her,  she  covered 
her  face  with  kisses,  and  said,  contritely,  "  I  will  not  be  so 
naughty  any  more — he  may  love  you  the  best." 

Again  Florence's  face  was  suffused  with  crimson,  and  her 
agitation  was  apparent  both  to  Mr.  Neville  and  Carrie — 
then  by  a  mighty  effort  she  grew  calm  again. 

Carrie's  manner  was  less  gentle  than  usual  when  lead- 
ing the  child  from  the  room.  She  was  annoyed  and  dis- 
pleased with  her,  and  for  the  first  time  there  was  no  plead- 
ing voice  within  seeking  to  smooth  over  her  little  errors  and 
offenses. 

Mr.  Neville  and  Florence  were  now  alone  together,  after 
a  lapse  of  some  years.  Did  either  think  of  the  evening  on 
the  hill  side,  when  they  had  last  been  similarly  situated  ? 
Florence's  expressive  countenance  did  not  betray  such  to  be 
the  case  ;  she  seemed  rather  to  have  sunk  into  a  melan- 
choly stupefaction,  and  to  be  wholly  unconscious  that  she 
was  then,  or  ever  had  been,  in  his  presence. 

The  profound  silence  was  unbroken  by  the  pastor ; 
unlike  a  more  sanguine  lover,  he  did  not  take  advantage  of 
the  propitious  moment  to  confirm  little  Florence's  revela- 
tion, but  sat  trying  to  solve  the  problem  of  Florence's 
agitation  at  the  communication  ;  seeking  to  arrive  at  some 
satisfactory  understanding  of  the  emotions  which  gave  it 
birth  ;  whether  they  were  of  sorrow,  anger,  pain,  he  could 
scarce  hope,  of  pleasure. 

The  opportune  moment  for  ascertaining  from  her  own 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  243 

lips  the  true  state  of  the  case  was  gone ;  for  Florence,  sud- 
denly rousing  to  a  sense  of  their  solitary  situation,  arose, 
and  with  quiet  dignity,  bowed  and  retired. 

Mr.  Neville  sat  long  absorbed  in  thought.  Several  cir- 
cumstances had  occurred  recently  to  convince  him  that  he 
was  not  wholly  without  interest  to  her,  notwithstanding  her 
reserve  and  distant  manner.  Her  agitation  on  the  present 
evening,  and  the  mysterious  glance  that  he  encountered, 
and  which  still  haunted  him,  were  other  proofs;  and  though 
he  was  above  the  petty  vanity  of  his  sex,  he  couM  not 
divest  himself  of  the  idea,  after  mature  deliberation,  that 
he  had  in  some  manner  caused  her  emotions  of  grief  on  the 
evening  preceding,  which  occurred  just  after  his  conversa- 
tion with  his  sister,  part  of  which  she  had  overheard. 

When  Carrie  returned  to  the  parlor  for  a  short  period 
before  retiring,  as  his  eye  encountered  hers,  the  words 
seemed  almost  involuntarily  to  spring  from  his  lips,  "Caro- 
line, did  you  discover  the  origin  of  Florence's  distress  on 
yesterday  evening  ?" 

"  I  do  not  know  that  I  did,  but  I  thought  from  a  remark 
of  hers,  after  we  reached  her  chamber,  that  it  was  occasioned 
by  our  conversation  ;"  and  Carrie's  lips  began  to  quiver  at 
the  remembrance  of  her  brother's  contemplated  absence. 

We  may  say  in  all  truth,  that  this  was  the  only  occasion 
in  the  pastor's  life,  when  having  caused  pain  to  another 
afforded  him  a  pleasure ;  but  we  must  admit  the  humiliat- 
ing fact  that  our  pastor,  with  all  his  genial  qualities  of 
heart  was  really  overjoyed  to  have  his  opinion  confirmed  by 
Carrie's — was  overjoyed  to  find  that  his  purposed  foreign 
tour  was  a  subject  of  sorrow,  to  Florence. 

Love  is   a  strange  banisher  of  sleep — that  night  one 


244  FLORENCE  ;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

would  have  thought  the  pastor  seized  with  a  wonderful 
desire  for  astronomical  observations,  for  he  spent  the 
greater  part  of  it  in  traversing  the  portico ;  yet  were  his 
thoughts  not  bound  with  "  the  sweet  influences  of  the 
Pleiades,"  though  from  time  to  time  his  gaze  was  uplifted  to 
the  glittering  dome  above.  His  brain  resembled  one  of 
the  labyrinthine  gardens  of  the  East ;  through  its  "  mazy 
windings"  his  thoughts  wandered  on  and  on  without  arriv- 
ing at  any  definite  point,  but  conscious  of  being  surrounded 
by  rich  foliage,  fragrant  flowers,  and  other  delicious  acces- 
sories. It  was  the  more  strange,  that  he  did  not  seek  to 
be  refreshed  by  sleep,  since  on  the  following  day  he  was  to 
be  arduously  engaged  in  a  remote  part  of  his  pastoral 
Abounds. 

Florence,  on  reaching  her  room,  gave  Fanny  positive 
orders  to  have  all  things  in  readiness  by  the  next  week,  for 
their  departure  south. 

"  I  scarce  know  how,"  said  she,  "to  communicate  my 
determination  to  my  friends.  I  fear  they  will  be  much 
pained  by  it ;  but  there  is  no  alternative,  I  must  return 
home  immediately." 

The  girl  was  quite  startled  and  dismayed  by  these  un- 
expected commands.  Really,  and  sincerely  attached  to 
her  mistress,  she  rejoiced  with  her,  when  she  rejoiced,  and 
mourned  with  her  in  her  seasons  of  mourning.  It  was  a 
great  source  of  happiness  then  to  her,  that  her  mistress 
had  found  friends,  who  by  their  kindness  and  love,  so 
nearly  supplied  the  places  of  the  lost  ones.  Fearing  the 
consequences  of  her  return  to  the  gloomy  seclusion  and 
isolation  of  her  own  home,  she  ventured  to  remonstrate 
with  her. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  245 

"  I'm  sure  I  can't  see  how  you  can  leave  the  friends  you 
love  so  well,  and  that  love  you  so  well  too.  There's  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Clifton,  and  little  Florence  and  Theo,  God  bless 
their  little  souls,  and  there's  Mr.  Neville  too " 

"  Say  no  more,  Fanny — you  know  I  am  inured  to  such 
trials,  having  lost  nearer  and  dearer  friends  even  than 
these." 

Much  as  Florence's  spirits  had  been  depressed  for  some 
weeks,  they  sank  many  degrees  lower  at  witnessing  all  day 
long  Fanny  folding  and  arranging  things  preparatory  to 
Iheir  being  packed  away  for  their  journey.  Although  con- 
scious of  her  sluggish  movements,  which  were  always  so, 
when  the  task  was  an  unpleasant  one,  as  at  present,  she 
could  not  chide  her  for  her  tardiness.  And  so  Fanny's 
hands,  usually  so  active  and  expert  in  the  tasks  appointed 
them,  became  less  and  less  nimble,  in  the  hope  that  her 
mistress  would  yet  relent  and  countermand  her  orders. 


246  FLORENCE;  A.  SEQUEL  TO 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

The  moon  is  up,  and  yet  it  is  not  night — 
Sunset  divides  the  sky  with  her — a  sea 
Of  glory  streams  along. 

As  Day  and  Night  contending  were.  CDILDE  IIAROL&. 

His  love  was  an  eternal  plant ; 

Whereof  the  root  was  fix'd  in  virtue's  ground, 

The  leaves  and  fruit  mamtain'd  with  beauty]*  suni    HAMLET. 

How  silver  sweet  sound  lovers'  tongues  by  night, 

Like  softest  music  to  attending  ears  I    ROMEO  AND  JULIET. 

I  loved,  and  was  beloved  again; 

In  sooth,  it  is  a  happy  doom.  MAZEPPA. 

"FLORENCE,"  said  Carrie,  entering  her  room  in  the 
evening,  dressed  for  a  walk,  and  looking  brighter  and  hap- 
pier than  she  had  done  for  some  weeks,  "I  am  going  to  the 
gate  to  meet  George,  who  is  coming  by  the  stage  this  even- 
ing. Will  you  not  accompany  me  ?  The  evening  is  so  de- 
lightful, I  am  sure  you  will  be  benefited  by  a  walk.  If  you 
become  weary,  and  find  the  distance  too  great,  you  can  rest 
on  the  bridge,  while  I  go  on  to  meet  dear  George.  Dear, 
dear  George,"  and  tears  covered  her  soft  blue  eyes,  "  how 
long  a  time  seems  to  have  elapsed  since  he  left  us.  I  shall 
be  quite  overjoyed  to  see  him." 

Florence  could  not  resist  a  smile,  for  this  long  absence 
of  which  Carrie  had  spoken  so  feelingly,  nearly  exceeded 
four  days.  Marriage  and  its  attendant  cares,  had  not 
damped  the  ardor  of  her  first  love — so  far  from  it,  sepa- 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS;  247 

rations  at  this  time  were  far  more  hard  to  be  endured  than 
in  the  earlier  days  of  their  wedded  life. 

It  was  a  most  gorgeous  sunset.  In  all  the  forms  of  the 
beautiful  which  Nature  delights  to  assume,  there  is  none 
more  pleasing  than  the  decline  of  the  "god  of  day,"  on  a 
spring  or  summer's  evening,  as  draped  with  rich,  heavy 
cloud-folds  of  Rome's  imperial  colors,  with  slow,  majestic 
pace,  as  if  conscious  of  his  lordly  supremacy,  he  retires 
from  the  sight  of  the  world's  vulgar  gaze. 

It  was,  indeed,  a  "  most  delightful  evening,"  as  Carrie 
had  said ;  and  so  Florence  thought  as  they  wended  their 
way  slowly  down  the  lawn,  and  in  a  glow  of  amor  patria, 
she  felt  that  Italia's  far  famed  evenings  never  yet  equaled 
it — midway  between  winter  and  summer — born  of  the 
embrace  of  the  chill  breezes  of  the  one,  and  the  hot  breath 
of  the  other. 

She  halted  on  the  bridge  to  enjoy  the  sweet  prospect  it 
afforded.  The  stream  came  laughing,  and  dancing,  and 
singing  along  like  a  gay-hearted,  \frolicksome  child.  The 
sweet-scented  violets  had  obeyed  to  the  letter  the  Scriptural 
injunction,  "  Be  ye  fruitful,  and  multiply,"  and  were  now 
spread  out  in  every  direction  into  broad,  irregular  patches, 
shedding  upon  the  evening  air  the  most  delicious  of  all 
odors.  The  golden  butter-cups  still  looked  eagerly  cloud- 
ward  for  their  nightly  draught  of  honeyed  dew,  and  the 
low  border  flags,  with  their  blossoms  of  royal  purple,  con- 
tinued to  follow  the  graceful  sinuosities  of  the  stream. 

The  face  of  Nature  was  redolent  of  happiness  as  a 
bride's  ;  and  Carrie,  in  pleased  anticipation  of  her  hus- 
band's return,  threw  off  the  melancholy  that  had  oppressed 
her  of  late,  and  chatted  gayly  and  happily  as  they  walked 


248  FLORENCE;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

along.  But  Florence's  depression  was  not  removed.  The 
joy  and  gladness  around  her,  seemed  to  give,  by  very  con- 
trast, a  darker  tin^e  to  the  sorrows  of  her  own  bosom. 

O 

Musing  sadly,  she  had  reached,  ere  she  was  aware  of  it, 
the  large  gate  which  was  within  a  few  yar^Is  of  the  turn- 
pike. 

Carrie's  patience_was  not  destined  to  a  very  severe  taxa- 
tion, for  very  soon -the  soft  sound  of  the  stage  horn  came 
winding  around  the  hills,  awakening  a  thousand  echoes, 
and  the  four  majestic  horses  bore  the  stage,  with  its 
crowded  population,  rapidly  onward,  pausing  for  a  moment 
for  George  to  dismount,  then  dashing  furiously  on  again — 
filling  the  valley  with  the  sweet,  mellow  tones  of  the  horn. 

George  sprang  down  the  steep  sides  of  the  turnpike,  to 
Carrie,  who  stood  holding  the  gate  apart,  and  clasped  her, 
his  fair  young  wife,  to  his  fond  heart.  But  not  the  happi- 
ness of  meeting  her,  whose  sweet  and  gentle  love  had  shed 
such  a  hallowed  light  around  his  hearthstone,  caused  him 
to  forget  the  pale  mourner  at  her  side.  Many  were  the 
kind  inquiries  he  made  in  regard  to  her  health,  and  most 
cordial  were  his  expressions  of  pleasure  at  finding  her  able 
to  walk  out  to  meet  him.  He  repeated  again  his  assurances 
that  she  would  erelong  be  as  blooming  as  Carrie,  and  thus, 
with  these  kindly  endeavors,  sought  to  lull  her  into  forget- 
fulness  of  all  her  sorrows. 

"But  come,"  said  Carrie,  twining  he,r  arm  in  his,  "I 
know  you  are  impatient  to  be  with  Florence  and  Theo,  and 
it  is  quite  time  we  were  returning,  for  it  is  growing  late." 

"  Ah !  there  comes  Theodore  ;  we  will  wait  till  he  joins 
us." 

Slowly  he  came  down  the  hill-side,  his  hat  drawn  low 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  249 

upon  his  brow,  as  one  lost  in  deepest  meditation.  He  was 
not  aware  of  their  vicinity  to  him,  until,  as  he  entered  the 
gate,  George's  cheerful  tones  accosted  him. 

He  extended  his  hand  to  him  and  replied  to  his  greeting, 
but  his  eyes  wandered  to  Florence,  who  was  stooping  over 
a  clump  of  tiny  blue  flowers,  with  long,  slender,  grassy 
leaves. 

"  Now,  Carrie,  we  will  go,"  said  George,  starting  for- 
ward. 

When  Florence  rose  up  from  her  stooping  position,  Mr. 
Clifton  and  Carrie  had  already  advanced  some  steps,  leav- 
ing, as  it  was  apparent,  Mr.  Neville  to  guide  her  feebler 
footsteps. 

From  their  earliest  acquaintance,  Mr.  Neville  had  been  a 
close  observer  of  the  variations  of  her  countenance,  and 
now  detected  the  traces  of  an  unusual  degree  of  melancholy; 
and  Florence's  heart  was  smitten  afresh  at  witnessing  the 
fond  meeting  of  the  young  husband  and  wife.  Alas!  there 
were  no  such  meetings  for  her ! — no  heart  swelled  with  joy 
at  her  approach  ! — no  arms  were  opened  to  enfold  her !  and 
she  stooped  over  the  clustering  flowers  to  hide  her  falling 
tears. 

"  Florence,"  said  the  pastor,  in  tones  the  most  tender 
and  compassionate,  as  he  offered  his  arm  for  her  accep- 
tance, "  lean  on  me  ;  your  walk,  I  fear,  has  wearied 
you." 

Mechanically  she  placed  her  arm  in  his,  and  endeavored 
to  hasten  her  steps  to  keep  pace  with  those  of  George 
and  Carrie ;  but  many  months  of  ill-health  having  deprived 
her  of  all  physical  exertion,  she  was  much  fatigued  by  the 
short  walk  she  had  taken,  and  her  steps  were  now  pain- 


250  FLORENCE  ;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

fully  slow  and  languid.  Her  feet  seemed,  when  they 
touched  the  earth,  to  be  glued  to  it — she  scarce  had  power 
to  raise  them  again. 

It  was  an  evening  when  the  empire  of  night  began  the  mo- 
ment the  day  had  ceased  to  be.  There  was  no  gradual  mel- 
lowing down  of  the  light-beams  —  no  fading  away  of  the 
glorious  rays — no  lingering  death  of  day  ;  for  the  moon, 
who  stood  pale  and  trembling  in  the  august  presence  of 
her  "  lord  of  creation,"  grew  wondrously  bright  when  he 
had  withdrawn,  and  "smiled  a  smile"  of  such  silvery  radi- 
ance upon  the  valley,  it  was  scarce  conscious  of  the  change. 
It  was  the  peculiarly  bright  and  loving  smile  ever  bestowed 
on  favored  ones ;  and  sure  we  are,  in  her  peregrinations 
round  the  earth,  she  found  no  spot  that  possessed  greater 
claims  to  her  regard  and  admiration  —  none  more  beautiful 
or  lovable  ever  looked  up  to  her  for  a  blessing  —  nor,  we 
are  equally  sure,  did  any  receive  more  abundantly  of  that 
which  she  alone  had  to  bestow.  Never  were  there  such 
moonlights  as  those  of  S •  valley. 

As  Mr.  Clifton  and  Carrie  drew  near  the  house,  their 
steps  were  accelerated  by  seeing  the  children  playing  upon 
the  portico. 

Little  Florence,  soon  perceived  her  father,  and  sprang 
forward  to  meet  him  —  the  nurse,  also,  ran  out  with  the 
baby,  and  as  he  clasped  his  children  to  his  breast,  his  rich, 
manly  tones  of  affection,  their  exclamations  of  delight,  and 
Carrie's  happy  laugh,  formed  a  chorus  of  joy  which 
greeted  the  ears  of  Mr.  Neville  pleasantly,  but  Florence 
sadly— most  sadly. 

All  her  forced  composure  gave  way  on  beholding  their 
happyreunion.  She  leaned  for  support  upon  the  railing  of  the 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  251 

bridge  which  they  were  then  crossing,  saying,  with  mourn- 
ful earnestness  : 

"  I  must  go  hence  —  I  must  go  hence.  Not  yet  is  all 
selfishness  rooted,  out  of  my  soul — Carrie's  happiness  dis- 
tracts me  !  How  enviable  her  situation  !  —  how  desolate 
mine  !  While  she  has  a  husband,  children,  friends,  I, 
alas  !  have  been  deprived  of  all  ! — for  me,  earth's  ties  are 
all  severed  —  I  am  but  a  lone  and  leafless  tree,  which  the 
rude  blast  delights  to  '  mock  and  scourge  !'  and  yet,  I 
know  that  He  who  hath  ordered  this,  hath  done  that  which 
seemeth  to  Him  good;  but  when  my  heart  would  bow  itself 
in  resignation  to  his  will,  alas  !  the  weakness  of  the  flesh 
rebels,  and  I  feel  that  'He  hath  multiplied  my  wounds 
without  cause.'  ': 

This  burst  of  confidence,  though  the  betrayal  of  her  im- 
pulsive nature,  and  not  a  voluntary  act,  gave  the  pastor 
the  opportunity  to  pour  out  the  long  suppressed  words  of 
consolation  which  he  had  so  pined  to  offer.  Instinctively 
he  clasped  the  hand  which  rested  on  his  arm,  as  he  spoke 
to  her  of  those  balm  drops  which  the  Saviour  has  given  us 
in  his  holy  book,  for  the  healing  of  the  wounds  inflicted 
on  the  children  of  men.  He  sought  to  remove  that  feeling 
of  loneliness  and  isolation  which  overpowered  her,  by  re- 
minding her  of  Carrie's  love,  of  George's  friendship — and 
when  he  would  have  spoken  of  his  own  sentiments,  hia 
voice  grew  tremulous,  and  his  hand  unconsciously  tightened 
its  pressure.  He  reverted  to  the  dawn  of  their  friendship — 
to  those  days  when  she  came  to  him  for  instruction,  and 
each  succeeding  one  rendered  her  more  and  more  dear  ; 

O 

and  perhaps  his  eloquence  had  never  been  so  powerfully 
exerted,  in  the  most  crowded  assemblies,  as  upon  that 


252  FLORENCE  ;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

balmy,  moonlit  night,  \vith  but  a  single  listener.  He  told 
of  all  his  love — his  deep,  abiding,  deathless  love  —  of  his 
hopeless  despair,  on  ascertaining  her  engagement  to  ano- 
ther— of  the  bitterness  of  his  grief  at  their  separation,  final, 
•as  he  supposed  —  and  of  his  melancholy  resignation  to  her 
marriage.  Then  he  spoke  of  the  poignancy  of  his  sorrow 
at  finding  her  broken  in  health  and  spirits  at  the  Springs  in 
Virginia,  but  most  of  all,  for  her  cold  estrangement  and  re- 
jection of  all  his  proffers  of  friendship  then,  and  since  ;  and 
in  concluding,  earnestly  besought  her,  though  she  might  not 
share  in  the  tenderness  of  his  feelings,  at  least,  to  deny 
him  no  longer  the  sweet  privileges  of  yore — to  grant  him 
the  same  place  in  her  affections  which  she  so  freely  gave  to 
George. 

Florence's  eyes  were  uplifted  to  his,  as  if  doubting  her 
sense  of  hearing  ;  but  when  she  saw  there  confirmed  the 
"  glad  tidings"  which  he  had  spoken,  her  emotions,  which 
had  been  suddenly  checked  in  amazement,  by  the  startling 
developments  he  was  making,  grew  fearfully  violent  again. 
The  happiness  of  that  moment,  who  may  describe  ?  when, 
after  years  of  sorrow,  the  boon  —  the  inestimable  boon  of 
his  love,  for  which  the  morning  freshness  of  her  heart  had 
been  blighted,  was  now  her  blest  possession — the  truth  con- 
firmed by  his  own  lips  !  —  the  knowledge  was  almost  too 
overwhelmingly  blissful  to  be  borne  in  her  enfeebled  state. 
Scarce  did  it  seem  possible  that  the  gloomy  fetters  were  to 
be  unbound  forever,  and  that  henceforth  the  light  —  the 
glorious,  dazzling  light,  of  love's  own  delicious  sky,  should 
be  above  and  around  her. 

Fearfully,  and  yet  more  fearfully  her  emotions  increased. 
The'  pastor,  whose  calmer  nature  never  permitted  him  to  be 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  253 

roused  into  such  outbursts  of  passion,  was  amazed  and 
deeply  distressed  to  witness  her  violent  and  protracted  agi- 
tation. He  was  at  length  forced  to  put  his  arm  about  her, 
to  sustain  her  faltering  strength,  and  implored  her  pardon 
for  the  distress  his  imprudence  had  caused. 

"  Forgive  me,  Florence,"  said  he,  in  tones  touchingly 
sad,  "  that  my  grief  at  witnessing  your  unhappiness,  should 
have  overcome  my  sense  of  prudence,  and  led  me  to  utter 
sentiments  which  I  perceive  your  heart  condemns  —  I  have 
indeed  acted  most  unwisely.  Proper  considerations  for  the 
delicate  state  of  your  health  should  have  withheld  me  from 
introducing  exciting  or  unpleasant  topics." 

But  though  utterance  was  for  the  present  denied  her, 
the  heart  of  the  pastor  was  made  to  thrill  suddenly  with 
rapture,  as  she  rested  her  head  confidingly  in  his  bosom, 
and  her  eyes,  glistening  with  the  "  heart's  own  dew,"  were 
uplifted  to  his — not  to  reproach  him — but  to  express  that 
which  her  lips  were  powerless  to  utter  ;  and  as  he  bent 
over  her,  and  his  lips  sought  hers,  in  that  moment  of  bliss, 
past  sorrows  were  remembered  no  more — were  lost  in  the 
deluge  of  happiness  which  swept  over  them.  For  a  time 
they  were  silent. 

"Words  ore  little  aid 

To  lore,  whose  deepest  vows  are  ever  made 
By  the  heart's  beat  alone.     0 1  silence  is 
Love's  own  peculiar  eloquence  of  bliss." 

Then  again  the  low,  rich  tones  of  his  voice  broke  the 
silence  of  night,  and  he  poured  forth  anew  all  the  hoarded 
love  of  years.  ^ 

Florence  did  not  mar  their  present  happiness,  by  lifting 
the  vail  from  her  gloomy  past  —  she  would  fain  listen  in 
silent  rapture  to  his  vows  of  love. 


254  FLORENCE  ;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

During  the  course  of  his  conversation  he  remarked,  that 
a  few  evenings  previous  to  his  sister's  death,  in  a  private 
conversation  between  them,  when  urging  him  to  marry,  she 
had  told  him  that  Florence's  affection  for  him  had  equaled 
his  for  her  ;  and  yet,  unlike  him,  when  insurmountable 
obstacles  were  opposed  to  their  union,  she  had  yielded  to 
the  force  of  circumstances — had  ceased  to  pine  over  that 
which  was  unavoidable,  and  had  married,  and  was,  doubt- 
less, very  happy.  "  But  I  knew,  dearest,"  said  he,  "that 
she  was  deceived  by  your  ardent  and  enthusiastic  friend- 
ship, even  as  I  myself  had  been  at  one  time.  The  sad 
teachings  of  experience  had  shown  me  that  the  heart  may 
not  so  readily  transfer  its  affections  from  one  object  to 
another." 

She  shuddered  at  the  truth  of  his  remark  —  for  hers, 
alas  !  when  bound  by  every  tie  to  another,  had  long  re- 
fused to  be  separated  from  his.  But  she  did  not  thus  say 
to  him  —  nor  did  he  question  her  of  the  time  when  it  had 
been  given  to  him.  It  was  enough  that  it  was  his  "  now, 
henceforth,  and  forever." 

Half  an  hour  later  he  suddenly  remembered  the  impru- 
dence of  exposing  her  to  the  night  air,  and  folding  her 
mantle  about  her,  to  protect  her  from  its  unhealthful  influ- 
ences, he  drew  her  arm  within  his,  preparatory  to  returning 
to  the  house.  Florence  was  aroused  from  her  blissful 
trance,  and  as  she  glanced  up,  the  ..radiant  disc  of  the 
moon  attracted  her  attention.  A  rush  of  pleasant  and 
painful  remembrances  came  upon  her.  She  stood  in  the 
place  where  they  had  first  met ;  and  the  place,  also,  and 
under  similar  circumstances,  for  the  moon  was  then  flood- 
ing them  with  her  silvery  rays,  where  in  an  ecstasy  of  hap- 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  255 

piness,  such  as  the  present,  she  had  believed  herself  be- 
loved, yet  afterward,  days  and  nights  of  agony  had  proved 
the  hope  to  be  "  baseless  as  the  fabric  of  a  dream."  Might 
she  not  again  be  deceived  ?  She  clasped  her  hands  toge- 
ther, gazing  heart-breakingly  upon  him,  and  exclaimed  : 
"  Oh  !  this  is  some  sweet  delusion — there  can  be  no  such 
happiness  in  reserve  for  me  !" 

He  dissipated  her  gloomy  fears,  as  they  proceeded  up 
the  lawn,  by  again  reiterating  his  vows  of  love,  and  direct- 
ing her  thoughts  to  the  bright  and  happy  future  before 
them. 

One  moment  they  paused  on  the  threshold  to  luxuriate 
in  the  consciousnes  of  being  alone  together,  then  re-entered 
the  parlor,  where  Mr.  Clifton  sat  reading  a  late  number  of 
the  Artist's  Journal. 

He  conducted  her  to  a  sociable,  upon  which  she  sank 
pale  and  exhausted ;  then  he  strode  hastily  across  the  room 
to  bring  her  a  glass  of  water.  As  he  bent  over  her  in  pre- 
senting it,  George,  who  was  glancing  inquisitively  over  one 
corner  of  his  paper,  a  deeply  interested  spectator  of  their 
proceedings,  heard  him  utter,  despite  his  low  tones,  some- 
thing which  sounded  very  much  like  reproaches  for  the 
injurious  excitement  he  had  caused  her  that  evening.  The 
loving  glance,  with  which  she  sought  to  dispel  his  fears, 
thrilled  Clifton's  breast,  such  as  none  other  had  ever  done 
before  save  when  his  Carrie  had  for  the  first  time  smiled 
thus  on  him. 

Sincerely  did  he  rejoice  in  the  joy  of  those  long  loving 
and  sorely  tried  hearts — and  as  Mr.  Neville  turned  to 
replace  the  glass,  he  threw  his  paper  down — he  could  read 
no  more  that  evening — he  was  by  far  too  much  overjoyed 


256  FLORENCE  ;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

at  the  consummation  of  that  for  which  he  had  so  devoutly 
wished. 

Just  then  Carrie  came  in,  and  seating  herself  on  a  low 
chair  beside  George,  resumed  her  work — that  of  hem- 
ming a  ruffle  for  little  Theo.  She  had  been  busied  with 
her  domestic  affairs,  and  was  not  aware  of  the  protracted 
absence  of  her  brother  and  Florence,  and  she  now  looked 
up  with  pleased  surprise  at  his  taking  the  vacant  seat  beside 
her.  She  was  gratified  beyond  measure  that  their  evening 
walk  should  have  banished  the  cold  estrangement  which 
had  so  long  existed  between  them,  and  restored  the  friendly 
intercourse  of  former  years.  This,  she  felt,  would  afford  a 
partial  alleviation  to  her  brother's  sorrows. 

But  George  was  quite  too  full  of  the  subject  to  remain 
longer  silent — quite  too  sincere  a  participator  in  their  hap- 
piness not  to  make  it  known. 

'  Florence,"  said  he,  "  my  conscience  has  been  burdened 
quite  long  enough  with  a  sin  against  you.  This  very  even- 
ing I  must  confess  it,  crave  your  pardon,  and  I  have  great 
reason  to  hope,  receive  absolution.  Do  you  remember  our 
first  meeting  ?  It  was  at  a  tableau  vivant,  in  New  Orleans, 
where  you  appeared,  not  as  '  violet-crowned,  pure,  sweetly- 
smiling  Sappho,'  but  the  Sappho  of  the  Leucadian  rock. 
Upon  that  memorable  evening,  as  you  were  aware  at  the 
time,  I  injured  you  by  a  premature,  hastily-formed,  and 
openly-expressed  opinion  of  you.  -I  condemned  you  for 
that  of  which  you  were  not  guilty.  Some  months  later  I 
accidentally  ascertained  my  error,  and  would  fain  have 
made  reparation  for  the  injustice  I  had  done  you,  by  con- 
veying to  you  some  most  pleasant  and  precious  intelligence, 
which  I  had  fortunately  become  possessor  of  in  S 


EARLY  ENGAGEMEKTS.  233 

The  calm,  peaceful,  motionless  waters  of  her  soul  began 
to  quiver — to  thrill — to  surge  wildly — and  to  grow  yet 
more  troublous.  She  arose,  to  dispel  the  half  pleasant, 
half  painful  reverie  into  which  she  was  fallen,  and  went 
into  the  nursery.  She  did  not  caress  little  Theo  with  her 
usual  fondness — in  fact,  she  turned  away  almost  as  sud- 
denly as  she  entered.  Those  large,  blue  eyes,  with  their 
mild,  loving  expression,  and  that  massive  forehead  were 
the  faithful  portraiture  of  one  she  would  fain  drive  from 
her  thoughts. 

Her  agitated  bosom  did  not  soon  regain  its  composure — 
the  master  passion  which  she  had  thought  quite  extinct, 
had  risen  from  its  long  slumbers,  and  begun  to  resume  its 
empire  there.  The  fact  that  Mr.  Neville,  like  herself,  was 
a  sufferer  created  a  bond  of  sympathy  between  them,  and 
her  indifference  was  supplanted  by  an  interest  in  his  wel- 
fare, gradually  becoming  more  tender  and  solicitous  even 
than  Carrie's. 

Once  their  eyes  met,  and  her  glance  was  so  full  of  sym- 
pathy, the  pastor's  brightened  suddenly  with  a  mot  thrill- 
ing luster.  It  fell  upon  her  wilted  heart  as  a  dewdrop  of 
heaven.  A  moment  hence,  and  a  sickening  shudder  per- 
vaded her. 

"Am  I  madly  yielding  to  the  tempter  again  ?  Have  I 
not  already  suffered  severely  enough  ?  Will  not  the  bitter 
past  suffice  as  a  warning?"  Fain  would  she  have  gathered 
back  her  straying  affections;  but  the  leash  unguardedly 
removed  for  a  moment,  they  were  now  far  beyond  her 
powers  of  control. 

She  avoided  his  presence — became  yet  more  reserved — 
thoughts  of  his  death  perpetually  haunting  her.  So  mor- 
20 


234  FLORENCE;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

bidly  nervous  had  she  become  on  that  point,  from  the  loss 
of  all  those  most  dear,  that  his  pallid  brow  seemed  to  her 
already  to  bear  the  stamp  of  the  grave. 

She  was  sitting,  one  evening,  in  the  parlor,  in  the  deep 
recess  of  a  window,  her  mind  tortured  by  the  most  gloomy 
apprehensions  and  dread  of  coming  evil.  She  was  all 
alone,  for  Carrie  was  walking  on  the  lawn  with  her  brother. 
In  their  peregrinations  back  and  forth,  she  had  an  opportu- 
nity of  observing  them,  and  from  time  to  time  their  tremu- 
lous tones  were  borne  to  her,  though  their  words  were 
indistinct.  From  their  manner,  and  the  unusual  degree 
of  sadness  depicted  on  Carrie's  countenance,  she  judged 
that  he  had  been  making  a  startling,  and  most  unpleasant 
communication,  and  was  with  melancholy  persuasion  trying 
to  enforce  Carrie's  resignation. 

And  so  it  proved.  He  had  just  announced  his  intention 
of  joining  Dr.  Melville,  in  New  York,  to  accompany  him 
in  a  tour  of  some  years'  duration  through  Europe  and  th>e 
Holy  Land.  "  You  know,  Caroline,  I  have  long  desired  to 
visit  those  countries,  and  the  present  offers  a  most  favorable 
opportunity.  Beside,  my  health  demands  the  change," 
said  he — his  voice  faltered  and  he  ceased  speaking  for  some 
moments — then,  as  if  he  felt  that  his  sister  merited  all  his 
confidence,  he  unburdened  the  sorrows  of  his  soul  to  her. 
Absence  from  Florence,  he  hoped,  might  enable  him  to 
overcome  his  affection,  which  he  had  -found  to  be  an  impos- 
sibility so  long  as  he  remained  near  her. 

Darkness  came  on,  and  Mr.  Neville  and  Carrie  re-entered 
the  parlor,  and  sat  down  together.  The  room  was  bril- 
liantly lighted,  but  Florence  sat  where  heavy  shadows  fell, 
and  was  unperceived  by  them.  Still  continuing  the  con- 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  235 

rersation,  Mr.  Neville  drew  forth  from  his  bosom  a  folded 
paper  and  handed  it  to  Carrie. 

"  You  have  heretofore  refused  to  accept  my  part  of  the 
property  bequeathed  us  by  our  lamented  sister;  but  under 
present  circumstances,  Caroline,  you  surely  will  refuse  no 
longer.  Accept  it  as  a  bequest  to  my  little  namesake. 
When  I  am  gone " 

A  deep  sob,  or  rather  moan  of  agony,  broke  startlingly 
on  them,  and  checked  their  further  conversation,  and  Car- 
rie's rising  tears.  Looking  in  the  direction  whence  it  came, 
they  discovered  Florence  convulsed  with  emotion,  her  head 
buried  in  her  hands. 

Forgetful  of  the  sorrow  which  the  prospect  of  a  long 
separation  from  her  brother  would  naturally  cause,  Carrie 
hastened  to  her,  and  bent  consolingly  over  her.  She  was 
alarmed  at  witnessing  her  throes  of  agony,  but  did  not 
question  her  of  the  cause,  naturally  attributing  it  to  the 
memory  of  some  former  affliction. 

The  pastor  looked  yearningly  at  her,  as  though  he,  too, 
longed  to  approach  with  offers  of  consolation,  but  did 
not.  He  arose,  and  left  the  room. 

The  night  was  spent  by  Florence,  as  many  others  had 
been — in  sorrow  and  tears.  Her  morbid  and  gloomy  imagi- 
nation had  given  to  the  conversation  she  had  overheard  a 
widely  erroneous  construction.  She  thought  he  was  speak- 
ing of  his  death,  and  it  seemed  to  her,  by  so  doing,  that  he 
himself  had  issued  the  verdict  against  his  own  life.  Dole- 
fully— ah,  dolefully !  tolled  her  heart's  knell  for  the  death 
of.  its  last,  fond  hope. 


236  FLORENCE;  A  SEQUEL  TO 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

Some  dream  tliat  they  can  silence,  when  they  will, 

The  storm  of  passion,  and  say,  'Peace,  6e  ttitt;' 

But  'Thus  far,  and  no  fartlier,'  when  address'd 

To  the  wild  wave,  or  wilder  human  breast, 

Implies  authority,  that  never  can, 

That  never  ought  to  be  the  lot  of  man. — COWPER'S  PROGRESS  OF  ERROR. 

Affectionate  in  look, 
And  tender  in  address,  as  well  becomes 
A  messenger  of  grace  to  guilty  men.        COWPER. 

A  chiel  's  aruang  us  takin'  notes.  BCRKS. 

FLORENCE  was  too  unwell  to  leave  her  chamber  during 
the  next  day,  but  in  the  evening  Carrie  prevailed  on  her  to 
come  down  into  the  back  parlor  with  her,  as  she  was  all 
alone. 

"  George,"  said  she,  "will  not  return  this  evening,  and 
Theodore  is  gone,  I  know  not  whither.  I  shall  be  very 
lonely  unless  you  take  compassion  on  me  and  grant  me  the 
pleasure  of  your  society.  Come,  Florence,  and  I  will  read, 
or  sing,  or  do  whatever  you  may  suggest  to  hasten  the 
march  of  the  dreary  hours.  Dear  George,  how  wearily 
the  evenings  drag  when  he  is  gone !  How  much  we  miss 
him !" 

Even  the  slight  effort  required  to  reach  the  parlor  over- 
came Florence  with  fatigue,  and  she  sank  upon  the  sofa 
nearest  her.  Carrie  comfortably  arranged  its  pillows,  and 
after  bestowing  sundry  little  attentions,  which  her  affection 
prompted,  sat  down  by  the  table  and  began  turning  over 
the  richly-bound  volumes  that  adorned  it. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  237 

"  Shall  we  continue  our  pilgrimage  with  Chaucer  and  his 
'nine  and  twenty  in  a  compagnie'  to  the  holy  shrine  of 
Canterbury?"  said  she,  opening  the  volume  at  the  page, 
•where  George  had  left  off  reading  the  evening  preceding. 
"  I  scarcely  think  we  will  find  their  'tales'  as  entertaining  as 
did  the  Arabian  prince  the  '  thousand  and  one'  related  to 
him  by  his  charming  wife.  I  confess  I  do  not  very  much 
admire  their  antique  phraseology.  Now,  if  George  were 
here  to  hear  this,  he  would  laughingly  term  me  a  modern 
Fadladeen.  Ah !  here  is  Motherwell.  Though  he  is  called 
a  minor  poet  he  has  written  some  very  fine  things.  Have 
you  ever  read  his  Sabbath  Summer  Noon,  Florence  ?" 

"  No,  I  think  not." 

"  Then  I  shall  do  myself  the  pleasure  of  reading  it  to 
you  this  evening." 

She  threw  into  her  voice  a  "  deep,  unbroken  dreamiriess" 
of  tone,  that  admirably  harmonized  with  the  spirit  of  the 
poem ;  and  had  just  finished  reading,  with  somewhat  more 
enthusiasm  of  manner,  the  closing  stanzas — 

"  So,  even  now  this  hour  hath  sped 

In  rapturous  thought  o'er  me; 
Feeling  myself  with  nature  wed, — 

A  holy  mystery, — 
A  part  of  earth,  a  part  of  heaven, 

A  part,  great  God !  of  Thee," — 

when  the  pastor  entered  the  room. 

"Thank  you,  dear  brother,"  said  she,  looking  up  smilingly 
at  him,  "  for  this  opportune  appearance.  I  have  been  try- 
inf  to  brinw  before  Florence's  mental  ken  some  of  Mother- 

o  o 

well's   beauties;  but  I  will   pass   the  book  over  to  you, 
knowing  that  you  will  be  much  more  successful  in  the 


238  FLORENCE;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

attempt  than  I.  Your  elocution,  and  George's,  give  me 
quite  an  humble  opinion  of  mine." 

He  took  the  volume  extended  to  him,  and  whether  by 
accident  or  design,  turned  to  the  touching  lyric  "Jeanie 
Morrison." 

Florence  was  still  reclining  on  the  sofa,  lulled  into  a  sort 
of  dreamy  repose  by  Carrie's  reading.  Her  eyes  were 
closed,  and  their  long,  dark  lashes  lay  like  a  somber  cloud 
upon  her  marble  cheek.  As  his  low,  rich  tones  fell  upon 
her  ear,  she  gave  herself  up,  for  a  brief  time,  to  the  most 
delicious  sense  of  happiness.  She  did  not  notice  the  vibra- 
tions of  his  voice  in  reading  the  lines  in  which  the  poet 
refers  to  the  "sweet  time — sad  time,"  when  he  and  his 
"young  love"  bent  over  the  same  page,  and  exclaims 

"  Thy  lips  were  on  thy  lesson,  hut 
My  lesson  was  in  thee," 

or  in  the  touching  lines  where  he  speaks  of  his  love  : 

"  The  fonnt  that  first  burst  frae  this  heart, 

Still  travels  on  its  way ; 
And  channels  deeper  as  it  rins, 
The  luve  o'  life's  young  day." 

She  did  not  observe,  as  we  said  before,  that  his  voice 
became  slightly  tremulous,  and  was  enriched  with  a  deeper 
pathos  as  he  gave  utterance  to  these  sentiments  of  the 
poet — she  heard  not  a  word  of  what  he  was  reading — she 
was  conscious  only  of  his  presence,  and  the  music  of  his 
voice ;  all  the  long  slumbering  chords  of  gladness  in  her 
bosom  were  waked  to  life,  and  yielded  exquisite  melody  to 
their  magical  influence.  Then  a  shade  passed  over  her. 

"This  must  not,  must  not  be.     Why  should  I  indulge  in 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  239 

a  dream  of  happiness,  even  for  a  moment  ?  Is  it  not  all 
delusive  ?  Have  I  not  proven  it  to  be  the  "vanity  of  vani- 
ties." Can  it  be  that  I  am  again  yielding  my  heart  to  an 
earthly  passion  ?  Has  a  new  affection  sprung  from  the 
ashes  of  the  past  ?  Yes,  yes,  I  do  love  him — not  wildly, 
madly,  passionately,  as  in  my  girlhood,  but  a  "thousand 
fold"  more  tenderly;  'tis  folly  to  chide  myself  for  that  which 
may  not  be  avoided.  Scarce  might  an  anchorite  know  of 
all  his  nobleness  of  mind  and  soul  and  not  be  softened  into 
love  for  him.  Yet,  oh  !  that  dreadful  thought !  must  he 
too,  die  ? — go  down  to  the  grave !  Must  the  light  of  that 
glorious  intellect  be  lost  in  the  tomb  ?  I  will  go  hence — I 
cannot  remain — if  the  thought  frenzies  me,  what  must  the 
reality  prove  ?  I  shall  go  home — even  my  gloomy  home 
will  be  preferable  to  remaining  here  to  witness  the  fading 
away  of  another  heart-treasure." 

He  finished  the  poem,  and  returned  the  book  to  the  table 
on  which  his  elbow  was  resting.  His  head  reclined  upon 
his  uplifted  hand,  and  whether  it  was  that  because  Florence 
was  lying  just  in  the  range  of  his  vision,  or  that  the  eye  will 
naturally  seek  the  most  pleasing  object  to  rest  on,  we  know 
not,  but  so  it  was,  his  gaze  was  riveted  on  her. 

"Poor  Motherwell,"  said  Carrie,  "  he  passed  through  life 
with  a  lonely  heart ;  how  sad  to  think  that  the  termination 
of  their  brief  and  happy  school  days  separated  those  loving 
hearts  forever.  I  believe  Mrs.  Murdock,  formerly  Jeanie 
Morrison,  never  knew  of  the  passion  she  had  inspired  in  the 
breast  of  the  poet ;  and  that  her  memory  would  be  pre- 
served through  coming  time  by  the  amber  of  his  verse. 
Truly  said  sweet  L.  E.  L. 

'  A  poet's  love  is  immortality.' 


240  FLORENCE;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

How  many  of  the  gifted  sons  of  song  have  been  dealt  with, 
thus  unkindly,  by  fate.  Byron,  Burns,  Petrarch,  Mother- 
well  and  others  have  been  mourners  over  the  tomb  of  a 
first  and  best  love  ;  yet  George,  who  always  makes  the 
best  of  untoward  events,  would  say  that  their  loss  has  been 
our  unspeakable  gain,  since  by  it  our  literature  has  become 
enriched  with  some  of  its  most  beautiful  productions." 

The  pastor  replied  to  her  remarks  in  an  abstracted  man- 
ner ;  nor  did  the  various  artifices  to  which  little  Florence 
resorted,  to  attract  his  attention,  meet  with  their  usual  suc- 
cess. She  had  always  been  a  great  pet  of  his,  and  was 
quite  spoiled  by  the  attentions  he  had  bestowed  on  her. 
But  latterly  her  artless  innocence  and  winning  manners  had 
failed  to  delight  him  as  formerly.  He  was  burdened  with 
a  sorrow  beyond  the  graces  of  childhood  to  lighten.  After 
many  overtures  of  love  on  her  part,  which  were  not  re- 
warded by  even  a  passing  notice,  for  his  glances  were  still 
fixed  on  Florence,  in  vexatious  disappointment,  she  burst 
into  a  violent  fit  of  weeping. 

"  Why,  Florie,  darling,  what  is  the  matter  now  ?"  said 
Carrie,  "  come  here  and  tell  mamma  what  ails  you  !" 

She  wept  and  sobbed  for  some  moments  on  her  mother's 
bosom,  and  to  her  oft-repeated  inquiries,  What  had  caused 
her  grief?  sobbingly  replied,  looking  toward  her  uncle, 
"He  does  not  love  me,  any  more,  since  aunt  Florence 
came — he  only  loves  her." 

Florence  had  risen  from  her  recumbent  position,  and  was 
sitting  where  the  rays  of  the  lamp  shone  directly  upon  her. 
She  started — trembled  violently — and  the  blood  swept  in 
torrents  to  her  pallid  brow.  Her  eyes  were  involuntarily 
turned  to  Mr.  Neville's,  and  there  was  that  in  their  expres- 


EARLY  ENGAGEMECTS.  257 

valley ;  but  I  learned  from  Carrie,  you  were  even  then  mar- 
ried, and  the  time  was  gone  when  my  communication  would 
have  availed  anything  of  a  pleasant  nature." 

Carrie  looked  up  in  pained  surprise  that  George  should 
have,  in  ever  so  remote  a  way,  injured  the  feelings  of  one 
whom  she  so  tenderly  loved  as  Florence;  and  said  in  gently 
reproving  tones — "Why,  George,  how  could  you? " 

"Florence,"  said  Mr.  Neville,  looking  somewhat  per- 
plexed, "to  what  is  George  alluding?" 

"Oh!  nothing,  I  suspect,  of  much  importance  to  you," 
said  Clifton,  looking  peculiarly  and  mischievously  pleasant. 
"  It  was  only  that  when  I  was  in  New  Orleans,  I  discovered 
that  its  courted  and  idolized  belle,  not  content  with  whole 
platoons  of  hearts  falling  before  her  in  deepest  adoration, 
was  pining  in  secret  for  one  in  the  gift  of  a  certain  pastor, 
whose  home  was  to  be  found  in  one  of  the  beautiful  and 
secluded  valleys  of  the  Ohio." 

Carrie  was  positively  shocked  at  George's  abruptness. 
She  had  never  known  him  to  act  rudely  before;  and  Mr. 
Neville  seemed  equally  astounded.  He  turned  to  Florence, 
and  in  a  voice  choked  with  emotion,  asked — "  Is  this  true  ?" 

Florence's  own  rising  emotions  again  checked  her  powers 
of  speech,  and  while  tears  gathered  fast  on  her  long  pen- 
ciled lashes,  she  bowed  her  affirmation  to  George's 
remark. 

"  Come,  come,  Neville,  let  us  have  no  more  long  faces," 
said  George,  "  and  no  more  tears,  Florence,  I  pray  you. 
This  evening,  when  I  arrived,  I  began  to  think  I  had  actu- 
ally mistaken  my  home,  and  fallen  on  a  house  of  melan- 
cholies. Here  was  Theodore  looking  the  very  embodiment 
of  a  funereal  sermon — Florence,  the  personification  of  melan- 
22 


258  FLORENCE  ;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

choly — and  even  Carrie,  though  she  tried  to  smile  a  welcome 
upon  me,  like  a  true  little  wife  as  she  is,  looked  so  doleful, 
I  expected  to  hear  that  Theo  had  his  cranium  cracked  by 
an  unmerciful  blow  from  one  of  his  drumsticks,  or  that  pet 
Florie  had  fallen  and  injured  the  shape  of  her  Grecian 
nose." 

"  Pet  Florie"  had  entered  meantime,  and  with  the  privi- 
lege of  a  spoiled  favorite,  ran  to  her  uncle,  whom  she  had 
not  seen  since  the  previous  evening,  and  climbed  upon  his 
knee.  Her  account  of  the  rare  and  beautiful  presents  her 
papa  had  brought  her,  was  checked  by  observing  the  tears 
which  remained  upon  Florence's  lashes,  despite  the  quiet, 
happy  smile  which  illumined  her  face.  The  events  of  the 
previous  evening  were  recalled  to  little  Florence's  memory 
by  the  sight  of  her  tears,  and  she  leaned  forward,  and 
putting  her  soft,  dimpled  arms  around  her,  said:  "Do  not 
weep — I  will  not,  indeed  I  will  not  do  so  any  more,  if  he 
loves  you  ever  so  much  the  most." 

Mr.  Neville  untwined  her  arms  from  about  Florence,  and 
said  smilingly — "And  are  you  really  willing,  Florie,  that  I 
should  love  her  more  than  you,  or  any  one  beside  ?  But 
what  if  I  take  her  away  from  you,  to  live  with  me  some- 
where, perhaps  a  great  many  miles  from  your  home?" 

The  young  mother  of  the  child  was  quite  as  much  per- 
plexed and  mystified  by  the  conversation  of  the  evening  as 
she — but  finally  things  were  all  explained,  and  it  was  evi- 
dent to  the  satisfaction  of  all  parties — none  more  so  than 
to  little  Florence,  who  said,  with  a  wonderful  outburst 
of  joy : 

"  Then  you  are  my  real  aunt — Mary  said  you  were 
not — that  I  had  none — only  mamma  wished  me  to  call  you 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  259 

so  because  she  loved  you  as  a  sister;  but  you  are  my  own, 
own  aunt.  I  will  go  and  tell  her  so  this  very  moment." 

Her  mother  caught  her  as  she  was  running  from  the 
room,  brimful  of  joy  at  the  pleasant  intelligence  she  had 
to  communicate,  and  endeavored  to  explain  to  her  that  it 
would  not  be  prudent  to  inform  Mary  of  this  just  now. 

Amid  the  happiness  of  this  joyous  evening  the  pastor 
was  not  unmindful  of  the  Source  from  whence  those  bless- 
ings came  ;  and  before  retiring,  he  bowed  himself,  in  the 
family  circle,  by  the  side  of  her  so  soon  to  be  his  own,  his 
wedded  wife,  and  poured  forth  his  thanks  in  tones  choked 
with  emotion,  for  all  the  blessings  of  life,  and  especially  for 
this,  the  crowning  one,  and  besought  Him  to  smile  graciously 
on  their  union. 


260  FLORENCE •  A  SEQUEL  TO 


CHAPTER    XX. 

No  might,  nor  greatness  in  mortality 

Can  censure  'scape.  SHAKSPEARE. 

But  let  me  now  a  while  survey 
Our  Madam  o'er  her  evening  tea; 
Surrounded  with  her  noisy  clans 
Of  prude?,  coquettes,  and  harridans; 
When,  frightened  at  the  clamorous  crew, 
Away  Uie  god  of  Silence  flew. 

Or  how  should  I,  alas !  relate 

The  sum  of  all  their  senseless  prato.    SWIFT. 

WAS  there  ever  a  marriage  in  city,  town  or  rural  district 
whose  preliminaries  the  goddess  of  gossip  did  not  esteem 
her  own  exclusive  possession  ?  We  very  much  fear  there 
is  no  exception,  save  the  one  Milton  so  beautifully  records. 
Usually,  when  society  is  about  to  stagnate  for  the  want  of 
news,  there  comes,  most  opportunely,  a  godsend  in  the 
shape  of  a  rumor  that  some  one  is  to  be  married.  Then 
the  gossiping  world  brightens  up  and  feels  as  overjoyed  as 
did  the  ancient  Athenians  at  having  "  something  new  to 
tell  and  to  hear."  What  a  vast  amount  of  sympathy  is 
expended  on  each  of  the  parties  concerned  for  their  unfor- 
tunate selection !  How  various  and  manifold  are  the  evils 
predicted  which  must  result  from  so  unsuitable  a  match ! 

Upon  such  occasions  every  maiden  becomes  an  oracle — 
every  matron  a  prophetess ;  and  strange  to  say,  their  pro- 
phesies all  assume  the  dusky  hue  of  the  ill-omened  bird's 
plumage. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  261 

The  inhabitants  of  S ville  were  made  to  "  drink  the 

wine  of  astonishment,"  by  the  announcement  of  their  pas- 
tor's contemplated  marriage.  Occupying  the  position  he 
did  in  the  social  circle,  and  in  their  affections,  it  was  most 
natural  that  such  an  occurrence  should  create  quite  a 
sensation. 

He  had  so  long  remained  single — so  often  resisted  the 
entreaties  of  his  friends  on  this  subject,  and  had  once  pub- 
licly expressed  his  determination  never  to  marry,  that  it 
was  difficult  for  some  to  credit  it,  even  when  it  was  ascer- 
tained beyond  all  doubt  that  he  was  engaged — and  to  their 
great  horror  and  regret,  to  the  rich  southern  lady  visiting 
Mrs.  Clifton. 

"  The  older  heads"  felt  themselves  wonderfully  ag- 
grieved that  he  should  have  entertained  serious  thoughts 
"  of  taking  such  a  step"  without  first  consulting  them. 

On  a  certain  evening  they  assembled  themselves  together, 
to  discuss  this  startling,  and  deeply  momentous  topic,  over 
a  cup  of  tea — "  that  most  delicious  and  invigorating  bever- 
age," as  the  talented,  young  Mattie  Griffith  denominates  it; 
and  doubtless,  that  inveterate  old  tea-drinker,  Dr.  Johnson, 
would  greatly  applaud  the  name  with  which  she  has  chris- 
tened it  for  all  time.  But  while  we  deny  its  claims  to 
being  entitled  a  "delicious  beverage,"  we  freely,  and  feel- 
ingly admit  all  that  has  been  said  of  its  invigorating  proper- 
ties. How  many  a  social  gathering  would  have  languished 
into  a  downright  sensible,  harmless  affair,  but  for  its  invi- 
gorating influence  !  how  many  benevolent  souls,  burdened 
with  the  weight  of  all  their  neighbors'  affairs,  would  have 
failed  to  present  them  to  the  public  in  the  manner  they 
deserved,  but  for  its  magical  powers  !  how  many  lips  would 


262  FLORENCE  ;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

have  labored  with  as  little  success  as  did  ^Esop's  mountain, 
to  express  their  just  sense  of  the  faults  and  failings  of  "their 
nearest  and  dearest  friends"  but  for  this  most  exhilarating 
fluid  !  Sancho  Panza,  of  mirth-provoking  memory,  hath 
pronounced  a  blessing  on  the  man  who  first  invented  sleep — 
so  do  we  now  invoke  the  same  on  the  male  or  female  celes- 
tial who  first  manufactured  tea  into  a  drinkable  state. 

The  discussion  was  opened  by  one  who  said  she  "  had 
heard  the  straight  of  the  thing  ;  for  Mrs.  Clifton's  servants 
had  told  her,  and  Mrs.  Soule's  black  woman  had  told  them; 
and  so  it  must  be  true,  for  Mrs.  Soule  thought  so  much  of 
her,  she  told  her  everything.  First,  she  told  her  to  pack 
up — she  was  going  home — and  afterward  she  told  her  she 
had  concluded  to  stay;  and  as  she  was  so  lonesome  without 
any  kin  of  her  own,  she  was  going  to  marry  Mr.  Neville. 
The  girl  said,  she  hadn't  seen  her  look  so  happy  since  her 
child  was  first  born  as  now ;  but,  for  her  part,  she  said,  she 
didn't  know  whether  to  be  glad  or  sorry,  for  things  would 
be  mightily  changed  at  home.  The  place  would  all  be 
rented  out,  and  the  slaves  set  free  ;  her  mistress  wouldn't 
sell  them,  because  they  mightn't  be  treated  well.  But,  her 
mother,  who  was  the  housekeeper  there,  and  her  children, 
wouldn't  consent  to  part  with  her  mistress,  and  was  coming 
here  to  live — and  Mrs.  Soule  was  going  to  give  back  the 
property  she  got  by  her  first  husband  to  his  cousin.  So  you 
see  matters  are  all  fixed.  I  wonder  when  the  wedding  is 
going  to  be  ?" 

To  this,  Miss  Prue,  a  lady  who  was  not  quite  so  young 
as  she  once  had  been,  and  whose  heart  had  soured,  rather 
than  sickened,  with  "  hope  deferred,"  responded  in  a  most 
decided  tone. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  263 

She  "  didn't  believe  a  word  of  it — their  pastor  was  a  man 
of  too  much  sense  to  be  taken  in  by  a  gay,  flauntin^ 
widder." 

Another,  somewhat  advanced  in  life,  and  as  she  affirmed, 
"  knowed  all  about  human  natur,"  said,  "for  -her  part,  it 
was  nothing  more  than  she  always  expected — that  preach- 
ers were  the  most  unfortunate  set  of  men  on  airth — she  had 
known  a  hundred  of  'em  in  her  time,  and  never  seen  one 
that  had  a  suitable  wife  ;"  and  with  a  profound  sigh,  whose 
egress  shook  her  ponderous  bosom,  "she  guessed  his  hap- 
piest days  was  about  over  now." 

Another,  in  a  fervor  of  enthusiastic  admiration  and  love 
for  her  pastor,  declared,  she  "  agreed  with  Miss  Prue,  that 
there  wasn't  a  bit  of  truth  in  it — for  what  would  he  a- 
lived  single  for  all  this  time,  if  he  hadn't  a-known  he  was 
too  good  for  any  born  woman." 

On  the  other  hand,  another  agreed  with  Mrs.  Burly, 
that  "  preachers  was  very  misfortunate  in  their  choice  of 
wives.  She  had  heard  that  in  some  countries  people  were 
not  allowed  to  make  their  own  matches,  and  she  thought  it 
would  be  a  blessed  thing  if  guardians  were  app'inted  to 
choose  wives  for  preachers  ;  for  however  much  they  might 
know  about  the  Bible,  it  was  certain  sure  they  knowed  no- 
thing about  woman-kind."  She  re-echoed  Mrs.  Burly's  sigh, 
and  "  was  afeard  his  usefulness  was  about  at  an  end." 

A  young  matron,  who  possessed  the  most  exquisite  ap- 
preciation of  the  ridiculous,  and  who  had  joined  the  party 
for  the  amusement  the  discussion  would  afford,  now  ven- 
tured to  say,  in  a  serio-comic  manner,  that  she  '<  highly 
applauded  Mrs.  Greggs'  views  on  the  subject;  and  that,  as 
the  golden  era  was  fast  approaching,  when  the  right  of  suf- 


264  FLORENCE  ;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

frage  would  be  granted  to  woman,  it  was  to  be  hoped  the 
evil  might  be  remedied,  by  the  enactment  of  a  law  by  our 
future  female  legislators,  doing  away  with  the  right  of 
preachers  to  select  wives  for  themselves,  and  appointing 
guardians  for  that  purpose." 

Many  looked  sorely  puzzled,  as  if  they  did  not  fairly  com- 
prehend the  terms  "  golden  era,"  and  "  rights  of  suffrage," 
but  all  were  pretty  sure  it  meant  something  in  opposition  to 
their  pastor's  marriage. 

And  now  another,  who  had  remained  a  listener  to  the 
foregoing  conversation,  unable  longer  to  restrain  herself, 
burst  forth  in  tones  rather  too  much  elevated  for  a  female 
voice:  "  A  pretty  wife,  indeed,  she'll  make  our  pastor — the 
proud,  scornful  cre'tur'.  I  remember  her  well,  when  she 
used  to  be  going  to  school  to  Mrs.  Ormond.  One  day  she 
was  coming  along,  and  you  know  she  always  strutted  like 
a  young  pea-fowl,  and  my  John  and  William,  and  Susan  and 
Sarah,  and  Mary  and  Ann,  were  playing  on  the  floor  here, 
and  she  looked  in  and  laughed,  and  said  to  the  girl  that 
was  with  her,  That  she  had  noticed  two  things  that  poor 
people  were  always  blessed  with — white-headed  children, 
and  a  house-full  of  them — and  now  '  they  say,'  the  only 
child  she  had,,  died  ;  and  it  was  a  just  judgment  on  her,  for 
talking  about  other  people's  children.  And  don't  you  all 
mind  how  she  used  to  walk  up  the  aisle  of  the  church  as 
though  it  wasn't  good  enough  for  her  to -put  her  feet  on — 
with  her  head  up,  too,  jest  as  if  she  was  Queen  Victora's 
daughter. 

"Victora's  daughter,  or  not,"  interposed  another;  "I 
guess  she  has  as  good  a  right  to  be  proud  as  her ;  for  once 
when  her  black  woman  was  going  by  with  some  medicine  I 


EAKLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  265 

thought  I'd  call  to  her,  and  ask  how  her  mistress  was,  just 
to  see  what  she'd  say ;  and  sure  enough,  she  stopped  at 
the  gate,  and  went  on  to  say  she  was  no  better,  and  she 
didn't  think  there  was  much  chance  of  her  ever  being  better; 
she  had  never  been  the  same  thing  since  her  old  master  had 
died — that's  Mrs.  Soule's  father — she  took  on  so  then,  and 
said  she  didn't  want  to  live;  and  then  when  her  Master  Harry 
died,  that  was  her  husband,  it  was  wus  still ;  and  then  her 
child  died,  and  now  she  says  she  hasn't  anything  wo'th 
living  for,  and  don't  care  how  soon  she's  gone.  But  dear 
sakes,  if  you  could  a-heard  all  she  told  about  their  house, 
you'd  a-thought  she  had  enough  to  make  her  want  to  live  yet. 
She  said  the  carpets  were  as  soft,  pretty  near,  as  a  feather  bed, 
and  the  green,  and  yellow,  and  red  of  them,  jest  as  much 
brighter  and  prettier  than  that  coverlet's  there,  as  my  face 
was  whiter  than  her'n — and  such  furniture — and  looking- 
glasses  too — why  they  went  clear  from  the  floor  to  the  top 
of  the  ceiling — but  as  to  that,  I  don't  see  any  sense  in  hav- 
ing such  high  looking-glasses — nobody  wants  to  see  on  top 
of  their  heads,  as  I  know  of;  but  Eliza  Jane  says,  she'd  like 
the  best  in  the  world  to  see  herself  in  one  of  them,  when 
she  has  on  her  Jenny  Lind  lawn,  with  the  green  and  yellow 
roses,  jest  to  see  how  she  does  look  to  other  folks  anyhow — 
the  vain  thing."  The  latter  part  of  the  sentence  was 
uttered  in  the  self-complacent  tone  of  a  weak,  fond  mother. 
"  What  an  ungrateful  creature  she  must  be,"  said  one  in 
a  low,  complaining  tone,  and  with  a  countenance  clouded 
with  gloom  and  discontent.  "  If  the  Lord  had  blessed  me 
as  He  has  her,  I  should  think  I  had  no  cause  ever  to  open 
my  lips.  But  that's  always  the  way— those  that  would  be 
thankful,  never  have  anything  worth  being  thankful  for.", 
23 


266  FLORENCE  ;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

About  the  beginning  of  the  conversation  (if  so  it  may 
be  called),  a  female  entered,  whose  beneficent,  and  rather 
intelligent  countenance,  told  her  to  be  of  a  different  stamp 
from  the  coterie  assembled  round  Mrs.  Blakely's  tea-table. 
She  stood  leaning  against  a  chair,  waiting  for  the  troubled 
waters  to  be  stilled,  in  order  to  make  known  her  errand  ; 
but  seeing  no  present  prospect  of  such  an  event,  she  seized 
a  momentary  pause,  to  pour  some  oil  upon  its  agitated  sur- 
face, saying  : 

"  Yes,  Mrs.  Green,  we  all  do  remember  when  this  lady 
was  a  pupil  in  Mrs.  Ormond's  seminary  ;  but  if  she  was  a 
little  proud  then,  she  has  endured  many  trials  and  afflic- 
tions since,  and  may  be  very  much  changed.  We  have 
none  of  us  seen  her  since  she  came  back,  and  she  is,  I  dare 
say,  very  different  now,  from  what  she  was  when  a  thought- 
less school-girl ;  but  even  then,  with  all  her  pride,  we  re- 
member many  things  to  her  credit.  Was  she  not  the  most 
liberal  of  girls  ? — spending  her  money  freely  for  articles 
for  the  sick,  and  assisting  the  destitute  and  distressed  in 
all  cases  ?" 

"  Oh  !  yes,  she  was  free-hearted  enough  —  but  who 
wouldn't  be,  when  they  had  more  money  than  they  knew 
what  to  do  with.  But  I  know  she's  just  as  proud  and 
stuck  up  as  ever  ;  for  I  wonder  if  since  Mr.  Neville  took 
the  fool  notion  of  marrying  her,  the  parsonage  ain't  been 
torn  all  upside  down  to  be  fixed  up  like  a  palace  to  suit 
her  proud  notions.  I'm  sure  I've  had  no  peace  of  my  life 
ever  since  the  workmen  from  the  city  have  been  over  there 
at  work — what  with  their  thumping  and  pounding,  it  keeps 
me  with  the  headache  all  the  time.  Oh  !  it  will  be  a  grand 
place  when  it's  all  done,  I'll  warrant — with  all  the  new 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  267 

rooms  they  are  making,  and  the  glass  house  behind,  which, 
they  say,  is  to  hold  flowers  that  grow  where  she  came 
from.  No  one  will  ever  dare  to  step  foot  there  again — 
things  will  be  so  grand.  I  really  believe  the  pastor  has 
lost  his  senses.  Jf  it  was  good  enough  for  Miss  Caroline, 
when  she  kept  house  for  him,  why,  he  might  know  it  was 
plenty  good  enough  for  Madam,  or  anybody  like  her." 

"  You  surely  forget,"  again  replied  Mrs.  Pierce,  "  what 
a  handsome  house  Mrs.  Clifton  lives  in  now.  The  parson- 
age, with  all  its  improvements,  will  not  be  near  so  large,  or 
BO  stylish — and  did  she  not  have  it  remodeled  and  repaired 
when  she  was  married,  just  as  the  parsonage  is  now  being 
done 'for  Mrs.  Neville,  that  is  to  be  ?" 

No  one  seemed  disposed  to  reply  to  this  ;  but  Miss 
Prue  again  condescended  to  open  her  thin,  prim  lips,  and 
observed : 

"It  is  quite  evident  that  she  is  not,  in  any  respect,  a  suit- 
able wife  for  the  pastor,  or  one  that  he*  could  reasonably 
be  supposed  to  fancy.  He  has  proven  himself  to  be  just 
like  the  rest  of  his  sex  in  this  choice  of  a  wife.  She  is 
rich,  and  that  is  enough,  always,  with  men.  "Women  of 
sterling  worth,  and  good  sense,  stand  no  chance  along-side 
of  rich  ones." 

This  was  too  much  for  any  present  to  bear  ;  for  notwith- 
standing their  present  onslaught  on  the  pastor  and  his 
future  bride,  they  really,  with  all  who  knew  him,  revered 
and  loved  him.  The  whole  tide  of  their  indignation  turned, 
and  was  poured  out  on  the  head  of  her  who  dared  imply 
their  pastor  was  marrying  from  other  than  the  purest 
motives. 


268  FLORENCE;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

Now  voices  orer  voices  rise, 
And  eacb,  to  be  the  loudest,  vies. 

They  spoke  simultaneously  of  his  noble  generosity,  his 
disinterested  acts  of  charity,  his  indifference  to  wealth, 
until,  from  sheer  exhaustion  of  laudatory  epithets,  they 
became  silent,  and  gave  Mrs.  Pierce,  his  first  advocate,  an 
opportunity  again  to  observe  : 

"  Mrs.  Blakely  and  I  can  assure  you,  beyond  a  doubt, 
that  he  is  not  marrying  for  riches  ;  but  that  he  not  only 
loves  his  bride,  that  is  to  be,  but  has  loved  her  for  years, 
and  that  it  is  owing  to  this  that  he  has  never  married. 
You  remember,  Mrs.  Blakely,  that  when  Maria  came  home 
after  Mrs.  Onnond's  death,  whom,  to  her  credit  be  it  said, 
she  nursed  through  her  long  illness,  as  well  as  if  she  had 
been  as  old  as  you  or  I,  she  told  us  of  a  conversation  she 
overheard  between  Mrs.  Ormond  and  Mr.  Neville,  the  day 
before  Mrs.  Ormond  died,  which  explained  to  us  the  cause 
of  Mr.  Neville's  •melancholy,  and  of  his  remaining  un- 
married." 

"  Oh  !  sure  enough  !"  said  ruddy  old  Mrs.  Blakely, 
quite  delighted  at  being  able  to  furnish  a  new  topic, 
since  the  old  one  was  used  up  ;  "yes,  Maria  did  say,  that 
coming  into  the  room  quietly,  one  evening,  so  as  not  to 
worry  Mrs.  Ormond,  she  heard  her  say  to  Mr.  Neville, 
that  she  could  die  satisfied,  if  he  was  married ;  that  she 
was  afraid,  as  Miss  Caroline  was  married  and  gone,  that 
when  she  was  gone  too,  he  would  be  lonesome  like,  and 
sad,  and  so  she  tried  her  best  to  persuade  him  to  marry  ; 
but  he  cut  her  short,  and  said  plump  and  plain  out,  that 
she  knowed  well  enough  he  had  loved  one  woman,  and  he 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  269 

never  could  love  another,  if  he  lived  to  be  as  old  as  —  I 
forget  what  —  but  maybe  Methuselah,  as  he's  so  familiar 
with  the  Bible ;  and  then  Mrs.  Ormond  said  that  was 
wrong,  foralthough  Florence  De  Lisle  had  loved  him  as  well 
as -he  did  her,  she  soon  afterward  married  another  man, 
and  she'd  dare  say  she  was  as  happy  as  she  could  be. 
At  this,  Maria  said,  his  voice  trembled  mightily,  and  he 
said  her  mind  was  surely  wandering  —  he  meant  by  that 
she  was  kind  of  crazy  like,  for  Florence  never  cared  for 
him  more  than  as  a  friend  ;  but  she  stuck  to  it — it  was 
every  word  truth — that  she  knowed  it  well  enough  at  the 
time,  but  wouldn't  let  on,  for  she  thought  she  ought  to 
marry  the  man  she  was  promised  to,  and  she  knowed,  too, 
very  well,  that  her  father  was  so  rich  that  he  wouldn't  let 
her  marry  a  poor  man.  Maria  said  she  felt  sheepish,  for 
it  seemed  like  eaves-dropping,  and  so  she  went  away  and 
didn't  hear  any  more." 

"  Now !"  said  Mrs.  Pierce,  triumphantly  ;  "  our  pastor, 
it  seems,  has  loved  this  lady  for  years  ;  and  he's  so  affec- 
tionate and  kindly  in  his  nature,  how  happy  he  will  be  with 
a  wife  and  children  of  his  own.  I  am  sure  we  all  ought  to 
rejoice  that  he  is  going  to  marry.  We  all  know,  too,  he 
has  far  more  sense  than  we,  and  surely  ought  to  be  able  to 
tell  who  will  suit  him  best." 

"  Poor  fellow  !"  said  old  Mrs.  Grant ;  "who'd  a  thought 
it  ? — yes  he'll  be  mighty  proud  of  a  wife  of  his  own,  and 
happy,  too,  I  do  expect.  He's  always  mightily  pleased 
when  he  hears  of  young  folks  getting  married,  and  seems 
lo  enjoy  himself  at  weddings  more  than  anybody  else.  I 
mind  when  David  Hilton  was  married,  he  seemed  so  pleased 
he  was  almost  beside  himself,  and  shook  David's  hand  so 


270  FLORENCE;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

heartily  when  he  congratulated  him  and  Mary  ;  but  when 
Davy  said  he  hoped  soon  to  be  able  to  return  the  compli- 
ment, you  ought  just  to  have  seen  how  he  changed  counte- 
nance, and  he  said,  in  sich  a  serious  voice,  '  he  was  obleeged 
to  him,  but  he'd  never  have  the  chance,'  and  walked  off, 
and  didn't  seem  to  gethis  speerits  up  anymore  that  evening. 
I  dare  say,  he  was  thinking  of  the  widder  then.  And  so 
he's  loved  her  all  this  time,  you  say  !  "Who'd  a  thought  ? 
Who'd  a  thought  it  ?" 

All  the  dissenting  voices  were  now  unanimous  in  favor 
of  the  pastor's  marriage  —  even  Miss  Prue,  fearful  of  ex- 
citing another  ebullition  of  their  wrath,  quietly  acquiesced 
in  the  general  opinion.  Mrs.  Burly  proved  the  only  excep- 
tion— she  was  heard  to  mutter,  somewhat  indistinctly,  "  It 
might  be  so,  and  she  hoped  it  would  ;  but  if  it  was  a  good 
match,  it  would  be  the  first  one,  certain  and  sure — but  it 
was  nothing  to  her,  as  she  knowed  of,  one  way  or  other — 
'  as  they  made  their  bed,  so  they  must  lie  ;'  "  quite  de- 
lighted at  being  able  to  close  her  remarks  with  an  axiom 
containing  such  an  amount  of  the  sagest  wisdom,  she  hob- 
bled off  with  considerable  self-complacency  to  her  cottage 
in  the  glen. 


EAKLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  271 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

Domestic  happiness,  thou  only  bliss 

Of  paradise,  that  has  survived  the  fan.  COWPER. 

But  happy  they!  the  happiest  of  their  kind ! 

Whom  gentle  stars  unite,  and  in  one  fate 

Their  hearts,  their  fortunes,  and  their  beings  blend.    THOMSON. 

And  if  a  painter's  eye  had  sought  a  scene 

Of  love  in  its  most  perfect  loveliness — 

Of  childhood,  and  of  wedded  happiness, 

lie  would  have  painted  thine.  LANDOIT. 

MEANWHILE  the  pastor,  all  unconscious  of  the  excitement 
bis  anticipated  nuptials  had  created  throughout  the  valley, 
was  enjoying  the  most  exquisite  happiness  in  the  loved 
society  of  his  betrothed  bride. 

They  were  sitting  together,  the  morning  after  their  be- 
trothment,  by  the  open  window  of  the  parlor,  inhaling  the 
fragrance  of  the  early  year.  Florence  had  nerved  herself 
for  a  most  painful  task— that  of  unfolding  her  sad  past  to 
him.  Though  it  was  like  tearing  open  afresh  the  fast-heal- 
ing wounds,  she  felt  it  to  be  an  imperative  duty — that 
without  confidence,  the  fullest  and  freest,  between  the 
parties  whose  faith  had  been  mutually  plighted,  there  could 
be  but  an  imperfect  happiness.  This  was  the  teaching  of  the 
bitterest  experience.  Her  concealments  from  Harry,  though 
prompted  by  the  kindest  motives,  had  resulted  so  disas- 
trously, as  to  enforce  with  a  thousand-fold  power  upon  her 
mind  and  heart  the  precept,  "ye  must  not  do  evil  that 
good  may  come  of  it." 


272  FLORENCE;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

Withheld  confidence  is  the  canker-spot  of  the  heart,  which 
eventually  corrodes  every  part  of  it,  and  proves  the  destruc- 
tion of  all  its  best  and  brightest  hopes. 

The  pastor  was  deeply  affected.  Very  much  of  the  bit- 
terness of  his  own  grief  had  been  stayed  by  the  supposition 
that  she  was  supremely  blest  and  happy  in  her  conjugal 
relations — therefore  it  was  that  her  revelations  so  painfully 
affected  him ;  yet  he  rejoiced  at  his  former  ignorance  of  this 
sad  truth.  Gently  he  soothed  her  lacerated  heart,  and 
sought  to  win  her  from  the  gloomy  retrospect  of  the  past. 

He  gave  her  a  letter  to  read.  It  was  a  respectfully 
urgent  call  to  the  pastorship  of  a  large,  wealthy,  and  intel- 
ligent church  in  Boston — that  nucleus  of  American  talent 
and  learning.  Florence's  countenance  was  all  a  glow  when 
she  glanced  up  from  its  perusal.  Her  heart  throbbed  with 
pleasure  that  his  brilliant  talents  were  not  lost  in  obscurity, 
but  had  become  known  and  appreciated  by  the  most  intelli- 
gent and  highly  discriminative  congregations  in  the  country. 
Surely  the  light  of  those  old  fires  blazed  anew  in  her  dark 
and  glorious  eyes.  Ambition — pride,  which  had  once  held 
unbounded  sway  in  her  bosom,  were  aroused  from  their 
trance-like  existence  by  the  gratification  of  this  once  fondly 
cherished  wish — that  he  should  become  known  to  fame. 
"  How  wide  and  fair  a  field,"  she  exultingly  thought,  "is 
now  open  before  him!  how  luxuriously  rich  the  laurel 
wreath  suspended  above  his  brow !"  In.  a  whirl  of  grati- 
fied pride  she  yielded  for  the  moment  to  the  voice  of  the 
tempter,  but  soon  her  better  nature  triumphed  and  the  evil 
spirits  were  exorcised.  It  was  but  natural  that  the  recog- 
nition of  his  talents  abroad  should  give  her  pleasure,  but 
she  sighed  not  for  future  triumphs,  or  more  extended  fame ; 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  273 

but  felt  humbly  grateful  that  it  was  given  to  him  to  lead 
the  soul,  dwarfed  and  deformed  by  sin,  into  the  path  whence 
it  might  attain  the  fullness  of  beauty  and  perfection  in  which 
it  was  originally  created — that  it  was  given  to  him  to 
inspire  the  heart  of  fallen  man  with  longings  for,  and 
efforts  to  obtain,  a  final  resting-place  in  the  blest  abodes 
of  peace. 

"  My  acceptance  depends  entirely  on  your  wishes,"  said 
the  pastor,  breaking  the  silence. 

"  Then,"  replied  Florence,  with  a  most  eloquent  smile  ; 
"  we  will  remain  in  this  beautiful  valley,  where,  as  I  told 
you  upon  a  former  occasion,  the  happiest  hours  of  my  life 
have  been  spent." 

The  pastor  was  much  gratified  to  find  that  her  feelings 
were  in  unison  with  his  own  upon  this,  as  upon  other  points. 
He  informed  her  that  he  had  frequently  received  similar 
invitations,  and  had  the  year  before  declined  one  to  the 
same  church  from  which  the  present  call  came.  He  had 
refused  all  former  calls  because  he  thought  it  scarcely  just, 
after  having  established  a  reputation  through  their  means, 
to  desert  those  who  had  received  him  in  his  untried  youth, 
and  who  had  borne  with  all  his  shortcomings  in  the  early 
days  of  his  clerical  service ;  and  beside  on  account  of  his 
aversion  to  city  life ;  and  furthermore,  because  of  the  pain 
a  separation  from  his  sister's  family  must  occasion  both  him 
and  them — but  now  the  case  was  widely  different,  since 
having  found  one  who  would  go  with  him  whithersoever 
he  went,  and  whose  sweet  society  would  far  more  than 
compensate  him  for  the  loss  of  that  of  others.  Beside 
her  happiness  and  wishes  demanded  consideration  as  well 
as  his  own,  and  he  feared  much  that  she,  who  had  been 


274  FLORENCE;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

accustomed  to  a  different  society,  would  scarcely  find  that 
of  his  present  parishioners  agreeable. 

But  Florence  protested  against  a  removal,  and  with  the 
pure,  earnest,  devoted  love  of  woman,  declared  her  wish 
for  no  society  but  his. 

Why  is  it  that  husbands,  who  so  freely  bestow  the  paltry 
adornments  for  the  body,  should  be  so  parsimonious  of 
the  gift,  the  inestimable  gift  of  their  society — squandering 
that,  which  the  wife  pines  for  in  secret,  upon  those  who,  so 
far  from  appreciating  or  even  feeling  in  the  least  degree, 
grateful  for,  would  esteem  it  a  favor  to  be  relieved  of? 
Too  frequently  is  the  happiness  of  families  thus  marred — 
the  husband  seeking  abroad  his  society,  indifferent  whether 
it  be  the  wise  or  the  foolish  so  that  it  be  found  beyond  the 
walls  of  his  own  home,  and  the  wife,  thrown  back  on  her- 
self, is  left  to  nurture  gloomy  thoughts — to  cast  the  "  long, 
lingering  look"  back  to  the  time  when  to  be  with  her  was 
esteemed  the  sweetest  of  privileges.  But  not  thus  did  it  ever 
prove  with  our  hero  and  heroine.  As  she  was  "  the  bright 
particular  star"  of  his  life  previous  to  their  marriage,  so  did 
she  ever  remain.  Nor  did  he  care  that  there  were  myriads 
of  others  of  greater  and  less  degrees  of  brilliancy — that 
there  were  other  forms  of  greater  beauty — other  lips  more 
skilled  in  lively  repartee,  or  freighted  with  greater  wisdom. 

" There  •was  for  her  one  only  dream  on  earth! 
There  was  for  him  one  only  star  above!" 

A  handsome  suite  of  rooms  was  added  to  the  parsonage, 
which  the  pastor  fitted  up  with  careful  regard  to  the  refined 
and  elegant  tastes  of  his  bride  elect.  Attached  to  it,  there 
was  a  conservatory  filled  with  the  plants  and  shrubs  of  her 
native  clime ;  and  for  none,  of  all  the  numerous  efforts  to 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  275 

conduce  to  her  happiness  and  comfort,  which  his  affection 
prompted,  did  she  feel  more  grateful  than  for  this.  It  was 
so  sweet  a  pleasure,  though  far  removed  from  her  native 
land,  to  have,  blooming  around  her,  the  flowers  she  had 
loved  in  her  childhood. 

There  was  one  individual  who  was  not  entirely  satisfied 
with  the  new  arrangement  of  things — the  old  servant  who 
had  so  long  presided  over  Mr.  De  Lisle's  establishment, 
and  who  had  proven  to  Florence  a  mother,  tender  and  true, 
despite  her  Ethiopian  skin  and  the  cold  heart  which  is 
generally  supposed  to  beat  beneath  it. 

Having  been  a  confidential  servant  of  the  white  members 
of  the  family,  she  had  imbibed  many  of  their  aristocratic 
ideas.  The  importance  of  wealth  especially  was  magnified 
in  her  imagination.  It  was  with  a  heavy  heart  she  pre- 
pared to  leave  the  splendid  abode  in  Louisiana,  to  take 
charge  of  one  of  far  humbler  pretensions. 

She  did  not  know  why,  if  Miss  Florence  wanted  to  marry 
again,  she  should  take  up  with  a  preacher.  He  might  be 
good  enough — she  knew  pretty  well  he  was,  or  Miss  Flo- 
rence wouldn't  think  of  such  a  thing  as  marrying  him ;  but 
preachers  were  so  poor  'always ;  and  then,  in  their  own 
country,  she  might  have  married  a  rich  gentleman,  and 
lived  like  a  princess  all  her  days,  as  she  ought.  Thoughts 
such  as  these  ran  through  her  mind,  on  receiving  the  intel- 
ligence of  Florence's  intended  marrriage. 

She  reached  her  mistress  on  the  day  preceding  the 
weddino-,  and  after  listening  to  her  encomiums  on  her 
future  husband — when  she  told  how  kind,  and  good,  and 
gentle  he  was  to  all,  and  how  happy  he  would  strive  to 
make  them  at  the  Parsonage,  her  scruples  began  to  give 


276  FLOREHCE  ;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

way — yet  as  she  gazed  with  the  admiration  of  a  fond  heart 
on  her  young  mistress,  whose  eyes  were  sparkling  with 
joy,  she  thought  half  regretfully  again  of  the  marriage. 
"  She 's  so  beautiful,  she  might  have  done  better  than  to 
have  got  a  preacher." 

The  morning  of  the  bridal  was  one  of  pleasant  anticipa- 
tions to  Fanny.  Her  mistress  was  going  to  lay  aside  the 
sable  clothes  she  had  so  long  worn,  and  Fanny's  innate 
love  of  finery  would  be  gratified  by  the  privilege  of  again 
enrobing  her  in  rich  and  tasteful  clothes. 

True,  there  had  been  no  splendid  preparations  for  this 
second  bridal,  like  those  of  the  former;  but  when  the  hour 
drew  near,  Fanny  brought  forth  the  magnificent  vail  and 
wreath  worn  previously.  Florence  shuddered  and  desired 
her  to  lay  them  away  again,  and  to  dress  her  without 
ornaments. 

"  You  forget,"  said  she,  "  that  I  am  not  to  be  the  bride 
of  a  millionaire,  but  simply  a  pastor's  bride." 

It  was  in  vain  Fanny  sought  to  overcome  her  objections. 
One  only  ornament  she  consented  to  wear.  It  was  the  last 
gift  of  her  father — a  bracelet  containing  a  small  likeness  of 
him  surrounded  by  diamonds. 

She  looked  exceedingly  lovely,  perhaps  far  more  so  than 
when  arrayed  in  "the  purple  and  fine  linen"  of  wealthy 
attire,  in  her  simple  muslin  dress,  with  a  cluster  of  snowy 
moss  rosebuds  fastened  on  her  bosom.  .  Fanny  ventured  to 
transcend  orders  slightly  on  this  occasion,  and  placed  on 
either  side  of  her  head  an  exquisite  cluster  of  the  same 
beautiful  flowers. 

Lost  in  deep  abstraction,  Florence  was  gazing  on  the 
miniature  which  rested  on  her  beautifully  rounded  arm. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  277 

The  sun,  which  stole  through  the  half-parted  shutter,  fell 
in  rich  masses  of  light  on  it,  and  the  gems  which  encircled 
it  blazed  and  flickered  like  so  many  miniature  suns.  To 
Florence's  imagination  they  seemed  a  fitting  emblem  of  the 
"  crown  of  glory"  which  his  freed  spirit  then  wore.  Tears 
started  to  her  eyes. 

"My  father!"  thought  she,  "how  would  you  rejoice,  did 
you  know  of  all  my  sorrows,  that  your  dove,  after  a  weary 
flight  over  a  stormy  waste,  had  found  so  sweet  a  resting- 
place." 

Fanny  had  just  arranged  the  flowers  to  her  taste,  and 
was  gazing  in  silent  admiration  at  their  beautiful  contrast 
with  her  mistress'  raven  tresses  when  she  perceived  her 
to  tremble  violently,  for  a  footstep  was  then  heard  without. 
A  low  knock  at  the  door  succeeded  it,  and  ere  Fanny,  or 
her  mother,  had  time  to  move,  Florence,  with  her  old 
impulsiveness,  had  flown  to  open  it,  and  was  folded  to  Mr. 
Neville's  bosom. 

Even  "  old  Mammy's"  heart  wanned  at  witnessing  their 
happiness,  and  she  said  : 

"  It  appeared  like  her  Miss  Florence  was  happier  than 
when  she  was  married  before  to  Master  Harry — but  that 
was  nat'ral  enough,  for  the  want  of  anything  always  proved 
the  wo'th  of  it,  and  she  never  know'd  how  to  'preciate 
her  husband  till  she  had  none.  She  be  bound,  now  she 
wouldn't  seem  to  care  as  little  for  her  new  husband's  atten- 
tions as  she  used  to  poor  Master  Harry's  that 's  dead  and 
gone." 

They  were  married  in  the  church,  that  all  who  desired 
might  be  present ;  and  we  need  scarce  say  the  attendance 
was  not  small;  for  many  sincerely  participated  in  their 


278  FLORENCE  ;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

pastor's  happiness,  and  all  were  quite  curious  to  see  his 
bride. 

Eliza  Jane,  arrayed  in  the  veritable  Jenny  Lind  lawn  of 
the  green  and  yellow  roses,  was  there  in  all  her  glory,  a 
very  curious  spectator  of  that  deeply  interesting  scene  ;  and 
her  mother,  standing  by  her  side,  whispered  to  Mrs.  Grant, 
"  if  the  bride  did  walk  a  little  proud,  it  seemed  nat'ral  like; 
she  was  certain  sure  she  didn't  act  so." 

And  old  Mrs.  Burly  was  heard  to  declare,  when  she  saw 
how  handsome  and  happy  her  pastor  looked,  "that  if  there 
ever  was,  or  could  be,  such  a  thing  as  a  good  match,  this 
was  one." 

All  hearts  warmed  toward  the  bride,  as  leaning  upon  her 
husband's  arm,  she  received  with  a  smile,  half  of  sunshine, 
half  of  sadness,  the  congratulations  of  his  friends.  Hers, 
as  her  face  indicated,  was  not  that  outgushing  happiness, 
such  as  Mr.  Neville's,  but  was  a  joy  of  the  soul,  chas- 
tened by  the  remembrance  of  a  former  bridal. 

"  Poor  young  thing,"  many  were  heard  to  say,  "  why 
she's  only  old  enough  now  to  marry,  and  just  think  of  the 
sights  of  trouble  she's  seen  ;  but  I  warrant  she'll  be  happy 
enough  now  to  pay  up  for  it ;  for  I  never  did  see  any  one 
that  seemed  as  proud  and  happy  as  Mr.  Neville.  It 's  the 
handsomest  couple  I've  seen  in  many  a  day,  and  it 's  clear 
sure  they  were  just  made  for  each  other." 

Many  months  had  passed  since  the  parsonage  received  a 
new  mistress,  and  its  hospitalities  were  dispensed  in  as  kind 
and  affable  a  manner,  notwithstanding  the  forebodings 
indulged  in  to  the  contraiy  by  some  of  the  parishioners,  as 
when  Carrie  Neville  presided  there.  Months,  they  were, 
of  unbroken  happiness  to  every  member  of  the  household. 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  279 

They  frequently  joined  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cliftpn  in  their 
tours  ;  and  the  respect  and  attention  with  which  her  hus- 
band was  everywhere  received,  and  the  repeated  efforts 
made  to  entice  him  from  his  humble  obscurity  to  a  position 
of  greater  eminence  was  to  Florence  a  proud  gratification. 

Florence  Neville  sat  alone  in  her  private  apartment — 
roses  of  the  richest  hue  were  again  blooming  on  her  cheek. 
It  was  a  room,  evident  even  to  a  stranger's  hasty  glance, 
of  a  person  of  elevated,  refined,  and  highly-cultivated 
taste.  Beautiful  pictures,  exquisite  busts  and  statues 
filled  the  room ;  and  a  handsomely  carved  book-case,  laden 
with  the  choicest  productions  of  the  most  gifted  minds, 
occupied  a  conspicuous  place  ;  ottomans,  divans,  and  seve- 
ral musical  instruments  were  arranged  round  the  room  with 
admirable  taste,  and  the  back  windows  opened  into  the  con- 
servatory. 

A  guitar  was  lying  near  her,  as  though  just  thrown  aside; 
and  truly  it  had  been  hastily  laid  down,  for  an  object  which 
afforded  a  far  more  intense  pleasure.  An  infant  was 
reclining  in  her  arms,  and  it  needed  not  to  have  been  thus 
situated  to  have  told  its  maternal  origin.  There  were  the 
same  dark  eyes,  the  finely-developed  forehead,  the  glossy 
tresses,  the  clear,  rich  complexion,  and  exquisitely  formed 
nose  and  mouth  of  her  who  gazed  with  such  tenderness 
upon  it.  But  though  inheriting  every  feature  of  the  mother, 
the  expression  was  strangely  unlike  hers — the  soft,  gentle, 
benign  smile  of  the  father  lit  up  those  infant  features,  irra- 
diating it  as  with  a  sunbeam  from  Heaven.  Fondly  bent 
the  young  mother,  over  her  darling,  whose  elaborately 
wrought  clothes  were  the  production  of  her  own  loving  fin- 
gers. It  was  a  beautiful  pictiire  of  domestic  happiness,  and 


280  FLORENCE  ;  A  SEQUEL  TO 

so  thought  the  pastor,  who  entered  noiselessly — the  soft 
carpet  giving  back  no  sound  to  the  pressure  of  his  step.  He 
paused  a  moment  by  the  table,  on  which  papers  were  strewn 
carelessly,  to  read  some  fragments  of  verse  dedicated  to 
her  child,  and  dictated  by  the  overflowing  heart  of  the 
young  mother. 

As  he  stood  thus  gazing  on  them,  smiling  his  own  pecu- 
liarly sweet  smile,  the  thoughts  of  his  wife  were  made 
known  to  him,  for  she  murmured  half  unconsciously : 

"  Thou  art  very  like  thy  mother,  my  daughter;  and  even 
as  I  do  now  fondly  and  proudly  bend  over  thee,  so  once 
did  my  father  exultingly  and  tenderly  over  me." 

The  strange,  eventful  history  of  her  life  rose  up  before 
her,  and  she  shuddered  at  the  thought  of  a  similar  fate  for 
her  child ! 

"But  those  afflictions,"  thought  she,  "were  in  mercy 
sent  to  crush  my  proud  and  haughty  spirit.  But  thou, 
my  darling,"  she  added,  aloud,  in  cheering,  hopeful  tones, 
"  thou,  thank  God,  hast  inherited  thy  father's  gentle  spirit." 

The  pastor  was  by  her  side  in  a  moment,  and  as  he 
folded  his  arms  about  them,  he  glanced  upward,  murmur- 
ing in  grateful  tones,  "  And  oh  !  I  thank  thee,  Father,  for 
the  treasures  thou  hast  given  me." 

We  have  done.  Calmly,  placidly,  and  beautifully  as 
thine  own  sweet  self,  Ohio  !  did  their  lives  glide  on  to  the 
great  ocean  of  eternity.  As 

"With  thy  name  this  song  'began," 
"  With  thy  name  thus  much  shall  end." 

On  thy  shrine  of  beauty  I  would  lay  the  heart's  pure  offer- 
ing— Love  and  Gratitude !  How  have  I  loved  to  gaze  on 


EARLY  ENGAGEMENTS.  281 

thee  !  "  friend  of  my  better  days" — for  thou  hast  given  to 
me  "beauty  for  aslies  ;  the  oil  of  joy  for  mourning,  and  the 
garment  of  praise  for  the  spirit  of  heaviness."  Ever  have 
thy  bright  and  joyous  smiles  dispelled  the  mists  that  hung 
round  my  heart — thy  calmness  hath  given  tranquillity  to 
my  roused  feelings,  and  thy  low  murmuring  music-tones 
have  been  sweet  as  the  gentle  love  songs,  hummed  over  me 
by  the  guardian  angel  of  my  childhood — my  gentle,  loving 
mother!  Blessings — a  thousand  blessings  rest  and  abide  on 
thee  forever,  Ohio !  Beautiful — thrice  beautiful  art  thou  ! 
and  upon  thy  banks,  doth  the  proud  young  Queen  of  the 
West,  sit  enthroned,  and  thou  also  sweepest  by  the  grave 
of  a  hero ! 

Farewell,  sweet  river !  ever 

Wilt  thou  be  dear  to  me ; 
I  can  repay  thee,  never, 

One-half  I  owe  to  thee, 

Around  thy  banks  are  lying 

Nature's  diviner  part, 
And  thou  dost  keep,  undying, 

My  childhood  at  my  heart. 


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this  work  one  of  its  chief  merits  is  the  excellence  of  its  conversations. 

"  The  moral  reflections  necessarily  connected  with  the  theme  which  ia  the 
basis  of  the  story,  are  characterized  by  good  sense,  and  some  of  them  are  truly 
eloquent,  suggestive  of  thought  to  the  reader,  and  they  indicate  that  the 
authoress  possesses  literary  abilities  of  no  ordinary  kind.  .  •'.,  »  . 

"  It  is  through  moral  and  persuasive  means,  after  all,  that  the  opponents 
of  intemperance  must  rely  on  to  accomplish  their  ends.  Its  blighting  and 
injurious  results  upon  the  happiness  of  the  race  should  be  pressed  home  upon 
the  convictions  of  every  one,  and  as  a  means  of  so  doing,  this  WEAL  AND  WOK 
OF  SOCIAL  LIFE  cannot  but  prove  a  powerful  auxiliary.  It  is  destined,  undoubt- 
edly, to  have  a  run." 

'•    Christian  Herald. 

"  Its  scenes  are  laid  inVirginia,  in  New  York  city,  and  in  the  Hoosier  State. 
In  all  these  various  localities,  the  authoress  seems  equally  at  home,  and  por- 
trays life  and  character  with  accuracy  and  with  power.  She  has  talents  for 
this  kind  of  writing  of  high  promise Has  so  many  thrilling  pas- 
sages and  well-drawn  characters,  that  you  read  it  with  absorbed  attention.  It 
cannot  fail  to  achieve  forMrs.  Collins  an  enviable  popularity,  and  to  do  much 
good.  Wo  need  just  such  books — books  that  portray  the  vicea  of  fashionable 
life — that  show  how  the  first  step  is  taken  toward  ruin 

"  Our  authoress  follows  her  characters  through  all  the  stages  of  their  degra- 
dation and  guilt.  She  goes  with  them  to  the  Five  Points,  to  the  Tombs,  and 

to  the  Hospital She  takes  us  with  her  to  the  drunkard's  home. 

She  tells  of  the  hunger  and  the  fear,  the  toil  and  the  suffering  that  are  there. 
She  paints,  with  a  woman's  delicate  skill,  the  meek  patience,  the  long-abused, 
but  unchanging  love  of  the  drunkard's  wife.  In  such  delineations,  she  seems 
peculiarly  at  home.  She  touches  the  deepest  chords  of  the  heart,  and  makes 
them  vibrate  with  pity  and  with  indignation." 

Gazette. 

"  Presented  with  a  power  and  vividness  which,  we  hope,  will  be  sufficient  x> 
cause  many  a  reader  already  treading  in  this  fatal  path,  to  turn  back  ere  it 
Decomes  impossible  to  avoid  the  destruction  to  which  it  leads." 


MOORE,     ANDERSON     &    CO.'S     PUBLICATIONS. 

New  Albany  Tribune. 

"  MES.  BEN  DABBY,  OB  THE  WEAL  AND  WOE  OF  SOCIAL  LITE.  By  A.  MARIA 
COLLINS.  Cincinnati,  MOOBE,  ANDEBSON  «&  Co.  Though  Mrs.  COLLINS  has 
already  hosts  of  admirers  of  her  literary  productions,  this  work,  we  predict, 
will  increase  that  number  ten-fold,  and  give  her  a  reputation  worthy  of  her 
high  talents.  Mrs.  BEN  DABBY  is  a  moral  and  temperance  story,  and  presents, 
in  vivid  and  life-like  pictures,  the  foibles  of  social  life,  and  the  evils  which 
follow  the  footsteps  of  those  who  '  tarry  long  at  the  wine.'  The  OBJECTS  of  the 
work  deserve  the  highest  praise.  While  it  is  highly  instructive  from  its  moral 
teachings,  it  contains  all  the  interest  that  is  usually  thrown  around  works  of 
fiction  by  our  best  writers." 

Presbyterian  of  the  West. 

"A  deeply  interesting,  and  in  passages  of  it,  a  powerful  work.  It  vividly 
portrays  some  of  the  terrific  exploits  of  strong  .drink  in  both  high  and  low 
life.  Nor  are  such  scenes,  as  it  depicts,  either  imaginary  or  few.  God's  bright 
eun  and  beautiful  stars  look  down  perpetually  on  many  such,  all  over  our  coun- 
try. Slavery,  hateful  as  it  is,  is  less  a  curse  to  body  and  soul  than  Intempe- 
rance. Nothing  degrades  the  whole  man  so  low  beneath  the  very  brutes,  as  rum. 

"  Let  this  book  circulate.  It  has  a  beneficent  aim,  and  is  the  vehicle-of  ad- 
mirably told,  and  most  salutary  lessons." 

Times. 

"  The  volume  before  us  is  as  unquestionable  an  outgrowth  of  the  Maine  Law 
excitement,  as  '  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin'  was  of  that  against  the  Fugitive  Slave 
Bill.  Each  is  less  a  creature  of  the  author's  individual  mind,  than  of  the  pres- 
sure of  popular  opinion.  Each  are  equally  hearty  protests  against  wrong  and 
injustice.  There  is  in  both  the  same  unflinching  grappling  with  the  terrible 
facts;  evincing  remarkable  courage  in  a  woman.  Shunning  nothing  that  can 
add  a  new  terror  to  the  tale  of  misery,  the  authoress  of  Mrs.  Ben  Darby  has 
followed  the  vice  of  drunkenness  to  all  its  haunts,  and  has  sketched  it  in  its 
daintiest  form  of  fascination,  as  well  as  in  its  grim  and  dismal  aspect  of  open 
degradation.  Barely  has  a  woman  ventured  to  hold  the  torch  to  such  a  dark 
recess  of  human  woe." 

Dayton  Empire. 

"  It  contains  life-like  sketches  of  American  Society  written  in  a  style  which 
cannot  fail  to  interest  the  reader.  We  took  it  up,  designing  to  give  it  a  hasty 
glance — to  note  the  style  and  drift  of  the  author —but  found  it  so  captivating 
that  we  read  the  whole  before  quitting  it." 

Daily  Ancient  Metropolis. 

"Her  thrilling  fetches  of  the  results  of  intemperance  harrow  up  the  very 
soul.  To  those  who  hope  to  see  their  country  imitating  that  proud  contempt 
for  lust  and  wine  so  remarkable  in  the  early  days  of 'our  great  prototype,  the 
Roman  Ecpublic,  rather  than  that  disgraceful  surrender  to  I'aem  which  hast- 
ened her  decadence,  we  would  commend  this  interesting  work,  as  presenting 
fresh  incentives  for  exertion  toward  so  glorious  a  result." 
Journal  and  Messenger. 

"  We  commenced  glancing  turough  this  book  professionally,  and  with  reluctance.  As  we 
proceeded,  we  were  fascinated  with  its  witching  descriptions  of  nature,  its  vivid  concep- 
tions, its  startling  scenes,  its  waster-skill  in  the  delineation  of  character.  The  author  un- 
doubtedly possesses  great  genius  hi  these  departments  of  writing — in  dramatic  construction. 
We  know  of  no  passage,  anywhere,  more  uniquely  beautiful — more  intensely  absorbing — 
more  masterly  in  delineation — more  terrific — more  overpowering  in  the  pathetic,  than  the 
thirty-fourth  chapter.  It  is  indeed  a  Gem.  We  doubt  whether  the  celebrated  chapter  de- 
voted to  the  death  of  Eva,  hi  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  is  superior.  *  *  *  *  It  is  certainly  the 
most  powerful  temperance  tale  that  we  ever  perused." 


MOORE     &    ANDERSON'S     PUBLICATIONS. 
STRAWBERRY  AND  CRAPE  CUl/TURE. 

MOORE  &  ANDERSON  have  just  published  a  small  volume 
of  one  hundred  and  forty-two  pages,  12  mo.,  entitled  THE  CUL- 
TURE OF  THE  GRAPE  AND  WINE  MAKING,  by  Robert  Buchanan, 
Member  of  the  Cincinnati  Horticultural  Society,  with  an  Ap- 
pendix, containing  DIRECTIONS  FOR  THE  CULTIVATION  OF  THE 
STRAWBERRY,  by  N.  Longworth.  Put  up  for  sending  by  mail, 
in  flexible  cloth  ;  price  50  cents  ;  cloth,  usual  style,  62£  cents. 

This  volume  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every  cultivator  of  these  delicious 
fruits.  For  it  embodies,  in  a  compact  and  available  form,  the  experience  of 
accomplished  and  practical  Horticulturists  on  subjects  which  have  come  di- 
rectly under  their  own  observation  for  a  long  series  of  years. 

Of  a  former  edition  of  "Buchanan  on  the  Grape,"  published  by  the 
author,  mainly  for  the  convenience  of  himself  and  his  friends,  we  subjoin 
a  few 

NOTICES     OF     THE     PRESS. 

Mr.  Downing,  in  his  Horticulturist  says  :  "  It  deals  more  with  facts,  ac- 
tual experience,  and  observation,  and  less  with  speculation,  supposition  and 
belief,  than  anything  on  this  topic  that  has  yet  appeared  in  the  United  States 
In  other  words,  a  man  may  take  it,  and  plant  a  vineyard,  and  raise  grapes 
with  success. 

"Furnishes,  in  a  small  space,  a  very  great  amount  of  instructive  informa- 
tion relative  to  the  culture  of  the  Grape.  —  Farmer's  and  Planter's  Encyclo- 
paedia. 

"  Will  be  found  to  convey  the  most  opportune  and  valuable  instruction, 
to  all  interested  in  the  subject." — Neill's  Fruit  and  Flower  Garden. 
MOOEE  &  ANDERSON",  Publishers, 

28  West  Fourth  Street,  Cincinnati. 


BORROWS  ROVING  ADVENTURES;  By  GEO.  BORROW, 
Author  of  "The  Gipsies  in  Spain,"  "  The  Bible  in  Spain,"  etc. 
With  fine  portrait.  Large  type.  Complete  in  one  beautiful  oc- 
tavo volume.  Pp.  550. 

"He  colors  like  Rembrandt,  and  draws  like  Spagnoletti."—  Edinburgh 
Review. 

"  The  pictures  are  so  new  that  those  best  acquainted  with  England  will 
find  it  hard  to  recognize  the  land  they  may  have  traveled  over." — National 
Intelligencer. 

"  We  could  hardly  sleep  at  night  for  thinking  of  it"— Blackwood, 


MOORE,     ANDERSON,    &    CO.'S     PUBLICATIONS. 


THREE    GREAT    TEMPTATIONS! 

Second  Thousand  in  One  month  !  !  ! 

THE  THREE  GREAT  TEMPTATIONS  OF  YOUNG  MEN— 
With  several  Lectures  addressed  to  Business  and  Professional 
Men  :  By  SAMUEL  W.  FISHER.  1  vol.  12mo.,  pp.  336.  $1. 

CONTENTS. 

THE  SIRENS,  THE  SLATER  OP  THE  STRONG, 

THE  WINE-CUP,  THE  PLAY-HOUSB, 

THE  CARD-TABLE,  THE  WEB  OF  VICE, 

THE  CHRISTIAN  LAWYER,  THE  PATH  OP  INFIDELITY, 

THE  MOSAIC  LAW  OF  USURY,  COMMERCIAL  MORALITY. 

"A  WORK  of  unusual  attraction.  We  know  not  where  to  have  wen  these  subjects  so  im- 
pressively, yet  so  properly  and  guardedly  examined.  Far  above  common-place  specimens. 
They  expose  dangers  of  terrible  imminence,  and  urge  persuasions  of  incomparable  impor- 
tancet  in  a  way  that  offends  not  the  taste,  yet  reaches  the  heart  and  engages  the  thoughts." 
JV.  T.  Evangelist. 

"ABLE  and  often  eloquent.  *  *  *  A  work  which  may  well  be  put  into  the  hands  of 
youth  just  entering  upon  life." — JV.  7.  Observer. 

"  WE  shall  put  the  book  by  upon  one  of  the  choice  shelves  of  our  private  library." — J?o» 
ton  Congregatimalist. 

"  THE  author's  style  is  not  less  clear  and  forcible  than  ornate  and  eloquent."  —  Detroit 
Herald. 

"CHARACTERIZED  by  earnestness,  eloquence,  and  adaptation  to  the  end  had  in  view." — N. 
T.  Recorder.  ^ 

"  PAINTS  in  vigorous  language  the  horrible  consequences  of  vice." — Boston  Post. 

"  WE  would  that  every  young  man  in  the  land  could  be  persuaded  to  read  it  carefully." — 
Louisville  Recorder. 

"  DR.  Fisher  has  spoken  honestly  and  boldly.  *  *  *  Characterized  by  great  energy 
of  thought,  a  free  and  copious  style,  and  by  a  spirit  of  high  Christian  philanthropy." — 
Puritan  Recorder. 

"  HAS  proceeded  boldly  where  most  public  teachers  are  too  timid  to  venture,  and  his 
manly  plainness  is  also  marked  by  prudence  and  true  delicacy." — Presbyterian  of  the  West. 

"  WRITTEN  in  a  style  most  inviting  to  youth  and  worthy  of  a  very  wide  circulation." — 
Cincinnati  Ch.  Herald. 

"  WILL  do  much  good  to  that  great  class  of  young  men  who,  reared  in  the  country,  are 
daily  transferred  to  the  cities  and  make  up  their  effective  population."—  Worcester  (Mass.) 
Palladium. 

"  MR,  Fisher  speaks  pointedly  and  plainly.  Let  young  men  listen  and  learn."— Philadel- 
phia Presbyterian. 

"  WORTHY  of  an  attentive  perusal." — Philadelphia  Observer. 

"  THE  man,  who  sits  down  to  the  perusal  of  this  volume,  must  rise  up  wiser  and  better, 
if  there  be  any  virtue  in  good  counsel  beautifully  and  touchingly  given,"— Madison  Cour'r. 

"  THE  style  is  bold,  manly,  and  vigorous,  and  in  some  portions  very  beautiful.  *  *  *  In 
the  name  of  the  young  men  of  our  cities,  we  thank  Dr.  Fisher  for  preparing  and  sending 
forth  so  timely  a  volume." — Presbyterian  Herald. 

"  The  teachings  of  the  excellent  preacher  will  be  regarded  as  unfashionable,  and  so  they 
are,  but  their  value  is  no  less  certain,  and  their  practical  workings  cannot  but  be  vastly 
beneficial  to  the  tone  of  society."— JV.  T.  Daily  Times. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

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